Ventura Harbor Completes ADA Bathroom Remodel, Inner Harbor Dredging

VENTURA— Two harbor projects have been completed in Ventura, the harbor dredging and remodeling of the Ventura Harbor Village restroom. The Ventura Port District Board of Port Commissioners received an update at its May 5 meeting notifying them that dredging work in the inner harbor and work to remodel the Ventura Harbor Village restroom at 1559 Spinnaker Drive to make it ADA compliant have been completed.

In 2014 and 2015, the district surveyed buildings and facilities within Ventura Harbor and Ventura Harbor Village to achieve compliance with local, state, federal laws and regulations. The surveys identified physical barriers in Harbor Village buildings and facilities based on ADA Accessibility Guidelines and Title 24 standards. As a result of that survey, the board approved a project to remodel one restroom on the first floor and two restrooms on the second floor of the building at 1559 Spinnaker Drive in July 2020. The work has now been completed, and the final contract cost is $101,923.

Work to dredge the Stub Channel to restore safe passage for vessels and personal watercraft from Ventura Harbor into the Ventura Keys has also been completed. The board approved the dredging project in February after Bathymetric surveys in the northern portion of the Pierpont Basin and the Stub Channel indicated the need to perform maintenance dredging in those areas to maintain navigational safety. Staff had also noted that over the past year, largely in part due to the COVID-19 pandemic, public recreational vessel usage (powered and unpowered) in Ventura Harbor has increased. As evidenced by the number of paddleboards and kayaks being launched from Marina Park, the district launch ramp, and the exceptional growth in rentals from Ventura Boat Rentals, the number of vessels operating within the Stub Channel (connecting to the Ventura Keys) has increased and resulted in congestion and groundings due to the shoaling of the south side of the channel.

The dredging work was completed on March 10.