Harbor plan unveiled amid criticism
Five decades into its existence – and more than two decades into economic and physical decline – the city’s harbor area is about to have a business plan.
The City Council on Tuesday night received a proposed Harbor Enterprise Business Plan, described by Mayor Mike Gin as a “living document” intended to help spur revitalization along the city’s struggling waterfront.
“It, in many ways, will set the tone and the guideposts for our harbor and how we are able to manage and partner and create some great assets,” Gin said.
The plan, developed by city staff and reviewed extensively by the Harbor Commission, lays out a series of goals and priorities and establishes a five year timeline. Among its goals are more defined financial management practices, clearer and more frequent economic assessments, improvement to infrastructure and amenities, a greater focus on the waterfront’s competitive position, and the development of a marketing strategy.
The goals are broken down into 49 specific tasks that range from monitoring the condition of parking structures, leveraging leaseholds for renovations, extensive surveying of boaters, hotel operators, guests, and residents, and establishing a mix of tenants able to attract local patronage year-round.
City Manager Bill Workman said that while some changes are already underway, true revitalization could take a decade or more.
“The harbor has been in a general decline for over 20 years,” Workman said. “Reversal does not happen overnight.”
Workman said that the plan’s development revealed a crucial area of inattention thus far in the operation of the harbor.
“One of the big ‘wow issues’ that the process revealed to us is the lack of attention to the customer,” Workman said. “This plan reminds us that we really need to look at the customer as really core to what we do.”
Some harbor leaseholders argued, however, that the business plan’s process revealed something else – a lack of attention to the businesses themselves.
Les Guthrie, who as the president of Marina Cove Ltd. is both the largest and most long-term leaseholder in the harbor, made a rare and dramatic appearance before the council. The indomitable Guthrie, 83, has been an operator in the harbor for 43 years. He has battled health issues for several years but he energetically attacked the lack of outreach he felt the city had conducted in devising the plan.
“We don’t believe we are a part of this discussion,” Guthrie said, his voice shaking with anger. “Our comments on this have been three minutes every so often. We want it to be like it used to be – sitting around the table at the same level…I think our 43 years of paying you millions and millions of dollars justifies that right.”
Guthrie noted that the plan specifically calls for collaboration with his neighboring leaseholder, relative newcomers Decron Properties, owners of the Redondo Beach Marina, but makes no mention of Marina Cove.
“Who the hell is Decron? What have they done for the city?” Guthrie asked. “It’s as if we don’t exist, as if there is a wall around us and nobody is interested in what we are interested in.”
Two longtime pier business operators who have been relegated to month-to-month leases while the city ostensibly attempts to find a larger lessee interested in operating a large part of the pier likewise indicated that communication with the city has been sporadic at best.
Judy Millner, the owner of the Shark Attack gift store, survived the fires and storms that devastated the pier two decades ago and the economic sluggishness that has dogged the area ever since. But she suggested she might not survive the city’s attempt at revitalization.
“You have those of us being put in a critical condition,” Millner said. “When I signed a burglar alarm lease, it was longer than my lease…..You know, we have been serving the customers and we are clear on the competitive nature of the business. Yet it just seems, like Les said, there is no interest in any of that knowledge, even when we try to reach out.”
Trinity Keeney, the manager of Starboard Attitude, a pier nightclub that is likewise on a month-to-month lease, said that lack of communication between the city and businesses has helped create some of the decline the area has suffered.
“And if you are going to create a business plan, you are going to need to hear from the businesses,” Keeney said. “…It’s not getting any better, and part of the reason it got to this point is because there is no communication.”
Gin stressed that the lines of communication should always be open.
“I don’t want the situation where there is misunderstanding that festers out there because maybe somebody didn’t ask us,” Gin said. “So I don’t want that perception out there, because we are all in this together. We all want to be successful. We all want to create a vibrant harbor and pier area.”
Councilman Bill Brand said he understood the city’s desire to keep leaseholds open to attract a large lessee interested in getting the city “out of the landlord business.” But he said the current situation was untenable and that no potential investor would be dissuaded if the businesses were at least given one year leases.
“I think it’s ridiculous for us to have month-to-month leases,” Brand said. “…I think we can demonstrate our commitment to people that have been there for decades, to at least give them the stability so they can conduct their business.”
Brand also suggested that the Council accept the Harbor Commission’s proposal to establish a task force comprised of city officials and local stakeholders to further refine the business plan. He noted the commissioners described the plan as “incomplete” and one commissioner in particular, Tony Cignarale, said the plan was not comprehensive and included “no mention of how the plan will be financed, no identification of which areas or people should be responsible for implementation, and little control or accountability.”
Brand said that the proposed plan was a “great start” but needed further work.
“I just see this great support out there, of really the stakeholders, that are more than willing to do this work,” Brand said. “…I don’t know how we can pass this up.”
Councilman Steve Diels said such a task force already exists – the Harbor Commission itself – and he said that at least twice-annual reviews of the plan by the commission should also help improve communication.
“As imperfect as the plan is, and incomplete as the plan is, we have to get started with it,” Diels said.
Councilman Matt Kilroy suggested two items be made priorities to immediately increase the vitality of the harbor – the building of a new public boat ramp, and finding ways to keep the Seaside Lagoon open all year long.
“I think both of these items are key in both serving residents and bringing a lot more people down to the area,” Kilroy said.
Councilman Pat Aust said he was overwhelmed by the over 500 pages of documents that accompanied the plan and emphasized the simplest and most crucial point: that the city needed to find ways to bring people back to its harbor.
“In 40 years, it’s been the same, just getting older,” Aust said. “…I’m perplexed. I think we need to address the customers that use our harbor and make this plan work.”
The council will revisit the plan at its Aug. 24 meeting.
“This is a huge step, and I think it’s been an excellent step,” Gin said. “I think we are hopefully starting [to establish] the framework towards moving forward, in a good way, with our jewel down there that needs some polishing.” ER