Redondo Beach Harbor Commission supports mooring field management plan

REDONDO BEACH – The Redondo Beach Harbor Commission adopted a management plan by the city’s Fire Department to regulate the use of the waterfront’s new transient vessel mooring field at its Oct. 13 meeting.

The same plan was presented to and approved by the Redondo Beach City Council in September.

Intended to attract short-term recreational vessels, the new transient mooring field is Redondo Beach King Harbor’s first in more than 25 years. The Fire Department’s management plan aims to establish and maintain a system of organization for a mooring field that can hold up to 25 vessels.

During the Sept. 16 Redondo Beach City Council meeting, Fire Department Chief Robert Metzger explained the purpose of the management plan.

“The city will manage the use of this mooring field in a manner that will protect the waters of the harbor,” Metzger told council members. “The mooring field will create safe mooring facilities for recreational transient boats.”

Specifically, the plan emphasized the use of a mooring field as a short-term recreational facility, with long-term tenants and commercial uses prohibited. Boaters seeking to replenish supplies or take refuge from inclement weather are also permitted to use the mooring field.

The plan also described the location of the mooring field and defined the relevant parties and uses involved. Also outlined in the plan is the mooring acquisition process.

In September, Metzger said the new transient mooring field is intended for temporary recreational use by short-term visitors to King Harbor. Commercial vessels are not allowed to use the mooring field located due north of the harbor entrance.

“By promoting the availability of these mooring facilities, the city intends to increase recreational opportunities and realize related economic benefits,” Metzger said.

King Harbor was home to a transient mooring field until 1988, when it was destroyed by a storm. More than 20 years later, the city of Redondo Beach was awarded two grants totaling $100,000 from the California Department of Boating & Waterways (Cal Boating) to build a new transient vessel mooring field.

Metzger said the construction of a new seawall plus grant funds to offset construction costs allowed Redondo Beach to build a new transient mooring field, which makes use of a double point “Avalon Style” mooring to maximize channels.

In a presentation to the Redondo Beach Harbor Commission in December 2013, a design team pointed out the moorings used in the marina are adjustable, removable, secure and “causes minimal impact to the sea floor.”

Moorings will be inspected by city officials annually.

A vast majority of the moorings can accommodate vessels up to 40 feet in length. Another smaller set of moorings accommodate vessels between 41 and 50 feet. There are also select moorings available to accommodate vessels up to 60 feet in length.

Fees range from $24 to $36 per recreational vessel, depending on the mooring size. Recreational vessels must be between 26 and 60 feet to rent space in the mooring field.
Redondo Beach anticipated generating $4,800 of revenue at 15 percent occupancy in the mooring field’s first year of operation.

Any transient recreational boater with a vessel between 26 and 60 feet in length should first contact the harbor master’s office, either at VHF channel 16 at (310) 318-0632, extension 2240. Then the boat owner must obtain a permit and pay any relevant fees. The vessel’s waste system would be inspected during the process.

Moorings are available on a first come, first served basis.

In a separate matter, the Redondo Beach City Council rejected at its Oct. 21 meeting a contract for Noble Consultants to conduct an engineering analysis for a planned recreational boat ramp at Seaside Lagoon in King Harbor.

“I don’t think it’s really a good deal. It’s a bad location,” Redondo Beach Mayor Steve Aspel said of the proposed contract worth nearly $400,000.