Developer proposes to fully renovate Long Beach’s Spinnaker Bay Marina

HALF MOON BAY — A private marina in southeast Long Beach will get a brand new look thanks to a developer’s proposal to completely renovate Spinnaker Bay Marina. The recreational boating venue nestled in the upper corner of Alamitos Bay is home to 192 privately owned slips.

Spinnaker Bay Slip Owners Association filed a request with the California Coastal Commission in May to approve a permit to have the private marina renovated; the permit was approved Nov. 3 at the commission’s November meetings in Half Moon Bay.

Homeowners who live in residential subdivisions adjacent to the 192 boat slips mostly use the marina.

“The proposed development is the improvement of a boat marina, which promotes recreational boating and is an encouraged marine related use. No fill of coastal waters is proposed. The proposed development will not have any significant adverse effect on sensitive marine resources, such as eelgrass,” Coastal Commission staff stated in a report to commissioners.

The marina, which was built within an artificial waterway in the 1980s, would replace all slips, fingers, headwalks, wood whalers and gangways.

“The proposed project does not include reconfiguring the docks or slip size distribution,” Coastal Commission staff stated in a report to commissioners. “The development includes no intensification of use along the waterside or landside and there will be no increase in demand on the roadway system or surrounding waterways.

“In order to ensure that the approved development does not adversely affect public access along the water, the commission imposes [a special condition] … requiring that the proposed project shall not interfere with public access and use of the public walkway that runs between the permittee’s property and Spinnaker Bay,” commission staff continued.

Replacement of the headwalks and fingers would be completed in phases, according to Coastal Commission staff.

“The headwalks and fingers are in various stages of disrepair and will be entirely replaced over the next ten years. The applicant states that construction of the new floating dock fingers will be done off-site,” Coastal Commission staff explained in its report to commissioners. “The dock fingers will be floated into position and attached to the existing docks. During the assembly of the fingers to the docks, boating use of the slips will not be disrupted. In the event a boat needs to be removed from the slip during construction, the boat will be moved to a vacant slip and then returned once work is completed.

“Thus, boater access to this private boating facility will be continuously available,” Coastal Commission staff continued.

Spinnaker Bay Marina is located adjacent to Long Beach’s Marine Stadium, which hosted Olympic rowing events when the 1932 Summer Games were held in Los Angeles. Rowing trials for the 1968 Summer Games in Mexico City were also held at the Marine Stadium.

Recreational boating, rowing and racing events are common activities in Marine Stadium and the Spinnaker Bay area.

Commissioners unanimously approved the Spinnaker Bay Marina permit request as part of its Nov. 3 Consent Calendar agenda.

(photo credit: California Coastal Commission)