Channel Islands Harbor Holds Meeting for PWP Amendment
June 9, 2022
The Channel Islands Harbor will make amendments to its Public Works Plan with assistance from the Coastal Commission.
CHANNEL ISLANDS- The Channel Islands Harbor will hold a meeting on June 10 to address amendments to the harbor’s Public Works Plan; the proposed amendments would adjust the distribution of boat slip sizes and change the minimum requirements for the total number of boat slips in the harbor.
“The proposed plan reduces the total number of slips required in the PWP and changes the required slip mix in the harbor,” Ventura County Harbor Department Director, Michael Tripp. “When anchorages are rebuilt, they typically lose slips for several reasons. Revised Division of Boating and Waterways guidelines and ADA standards often reduce the number of slips that can be built in the same area of water. Slip developers also often want to provide fewer small slips because their vacancy rate is typically higher due to people trailering small boats. Lastly, the change from boats being constructed of wood to being constructed out of fiberglass has resulted in the public being able to buy larger boats than they typically would have, for lower costs.”
According to Tripp, the proposed change to the slip mix allows the harbor more flexibility while still ensuring there will be plenty of small slips available.
The Coastal Commission will oversee and review the proposed changes to the PWP and can approve, deny, or approve it with suggested modifications. Any changes to the PWP cannot be made without the Coastal Commission’s approval.
“We cannot predict whether or not the Coastal Commission will approve the proposed amendments,” said Tripp. “We do work with Coastal Commission staff prior to the meeting to ensure that what is proposed is something that they can recommend for approval. If the Coastal Commission does approve the proposed changes, the next step will be to bring them back to the Board of Supervisors for their approval.”
The PWP was originally certified by the California Coastal Commission on Sept. 19, 1986, and was created “to promote greater efficiency of the planning of any public works or state
university or college or private university development project, and as an
alternative to project-by-project review, plans for public works or state university
or college or private university long-range land use development plans may be
submitted to the Commission in the same manner prescribed for the review of
local coastal programs,” according to the document.
The staff report is available on the Coastal Commission’s website as well as virtual access to the meeting.
