DANA POINT — Slip holders and boaters on the slip waiting list here can register their opinions in an online survey launched July 28 — providing input on four marina design alternatives for the waterside portion of OC Dana Point Harbor. Be forewarned, though: The survey is not open to all harbor users.

Potential slip renters who aren’t yet on the waiting list, trailerboaters and others who regularly head to the harbor for a day on the water are not eligible to comment on the four designs — determining the total number and size of slips available — that have been formulated by the harbor’s Boater Focus Group.

The four designs were discussed during a July 22 Boater Focus Group meeting, which Dana Point boaters were encouraged to attend in a memo posted online at the Orange County’s OC Dana Point Harbor Web site. Boating associations in the harbor issued announcements June 23-24 encouraging boaters to attend and provide input on the alternative designs, since the county had agreed to open meetings to boaters to make for a more “transparent” process to finalize details of the Dana Point Revitalization Plan.

However, apparently, the process remains “transparent” only to a select group.

Media representatives were not welcome at the meeting — and that includes The Log Newspaper, which represents more than 50,000 Southern California boaters who read each issue. This reporter was met at the door by a county employee and was informed that the meeting — held in a public-owned building with Orange County officials presiding, and presumably paid for by taxpayer dollars — was, in fact, not open to the public.

Open or Closed?

According to a statement posted on the county’s OC Dana Point Harbor Web site June 24, several Boater Focus Group meetings have been held since early 2006 to discuss boater issues in the harbor, and “extensive notification and solicitation for participation” was issued for each of the meetings. Information was provided in Marina News mailed with every boat slip monthly statement and to wait list applicants, in the Harbor Report mailed with every boat slip statement, in a Dana Point Boaters Association membership meeting presentation on March 19 and at www.dphplan.com.

“Our requests are attempts to obtain all the input we can, and to allow everyone the opportunity to participate in deciding what the future slip-mix for Dana Point Harbor will be, as well as keep informed on what is happening in Dana Point,” the county’s Web site states. “This is not an easy task, but with our continued public outreach and the participation of the stakeholders who use the harbor, we anticipate concluding this portion of the planning very soon.”

What is not clear is that while the Boater Focus Group encourages “all boaters” to participate in the meetings and provide input, participation is actually only open to boaters who are current slip holders or on the wait list.

The Boater Focus Group is reported to have held 10 meetings since August 2008, where members evaluated 20 different slip layouts for Dana Point Harbor. The group has since narrowed the slip layouts to four alternatives. Feedback is now being solicited — from eligible respondents only — on the layouts, in an online survey.

“Dana Point boaters” (as narrowly defined by the county) can vote once.

“They don’t want just anybody to be able to vote,” explained Bruce Heyman, president of Boaters for Dana Point. “It’s only going to be people who have slips or are legitimately on the wait list. However, I think anyone who wants to should be able to vote.”

Boaters who received word that the county was opening the Boater Focus Group meetings to the public may have been left out in the cold when attempting to gain access to the online survey last week. In order to provide input on the design alternatives, voters must first provide their account number and name as it appears on their slip or wait list account.

Don’t have an account? Not a slip holder? No vote for you.

What Happened at the Meeting?

Representatives from the county, harbor boaters, members of the Dana Point Boaters Association and Boaters for Dana Point Harbor were present at the July 22 meeting at the Orange County Sailing and Events Center, where county officials handed out the evening’s agenda.

According to participants interviewed after the meeting by The Log, the majority of the meeting was spent examining four different alternative plans for the waterside revitalization — labeled 3.5 L, M, N and O.

Design alternatives would reduce slips smaller than 30 feet in length by 50, 40, 20 or 23 percent. Design specifics for alternative O propose a cut of 323 slips 30 feet and smaller from the existing 1,795 existing slips, and a decrease of 209 total slips; alternative N would reduce small slips by 410 and total slips by 254; alternative L would cut small slips by 746 and total slips by 330; and alternative M would decrease small slips by 492 and total slips by 263.

Heyman said he remains wary of alternative O’s plan for 13 end-ties, which currently shows occupation by two small boats each, resulting in a total of 26 small boats in these locations. His concern is that the county could potentially decide to place one large boat at each end-tie instead, as project engineers configure end-ties to also be able to accommodate larger vessels’ needs for water and power. The move could lead to a further reduction in smaller slips of 2.4 percent, and an 87 percent increase in larger slips, Heyman said.

A proposal to eliminate all vessel overhang in Dana Point Harbor slips is another concern that Heyman plans to address.

However, Roger Beard, president of the Dana Point Boaters Association, believes that the county is on the right track in seeking input on design alternatives from the boaters who will actually use the harbor slips.

“Brad Gross and his staff have stepped up,” Beard said. “The old days of doing it ‘our way or the highway’ — that’s the old days.”

The Dana Point Boaters Association will poll its members to gain a consensus on the most desirable design, Beard added.

“We will see what voters want to do and, hopefully, get that squared away quickly,” Beard said. “We think we have gotten what we needed to get done — and this change is good.”

The Dana Point Harbor Revitaliza-tion Plan consists of two phases that include landside and waterside construction. Plans for the landside portion of the project will include extensive street lighting upgrades, water quality improvements, addition of public and boater restrooms, an improved parking and circulation layout and construction of a dry-stack boat storage building housing up to 400 boats. The plan replaces approximately 80,000 square feet and adds approximately 30,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space.

Phase 2 consists of renovations to the structures and street improvements on the island, and reconfiguration of the marinas. Also included is the removal of nearly all floating docks and piles in the West and East marinas, reconstruction of a portion of the quay wall and installation of new docks, gangways, security gates and dock boxes.

If the California Coastal Commis-sion approves Dana Point’s Local Coastal Program Amendment — the document that provides the framework for future construction on the harbor — and the city of Dana Point and Orange County approve the plan with established conditions and modifications, construction could begin as early as 2011 and could be completed by 2015.

For more information on the Coastal Commission hearing, visit www.coastal.ca.gov. To learn more about the Dana Point Harbor Revitalization Plan, visit www.dphplan.com.

The survey of Dana Point Harbor slip holders and waiting list boaters closes Aug. 16.