Fees for Newport Harbor moorings may take a dive

Owners of harbor moorings could see yearly fees drop by more than half if the Newport Beach City Council approves policy changes.

The Harbor Commission recommended Tuesday that the council reduce the city’s annual permit fee from about $55 per foot of a boat to $25 per foot.

The commission also recommended that the council allow one mooring transfer per year, at a cost that is either the equivalent of the yearly fee or 5% of the sale price for the mooring. No fee would be charged for a transfer to a family member.

The recommendations came after about a month of public meetings, where topics such as cost, transfer rules and other mooring issues were sometimes hotly debated.

In February, the City Council cut the cost of residential pier fees throughout the city and tasked the Harbor Commission with assessing the cost of harbor moorings as well. Many mooring holders spoke in favor of a fee reduction that would put them on par with residential pier owners.

In a controversial vote in 2010, the council decided to nearly triple the cost of mooring fees, which had not been increased since 1996. The move came three years after an Orange County Grand Jury investigation determined that the city was mismanaging the mooring process and that some owners were selling their moorings along with their boats. Among the specific findings, the grand jury said the city hadn’t assessed the moorings’ fair market value since the mid-1990s.

At that time, the council voted to peg moorings at 14% of the average Newport marina rent, which raised the mooring fee from about $20 per foot of a boat to about $55 per foot. That increased the monthly mooring cost for a 40-foot boat from about $65 to more than $180.

The ordinance also allowed a mooring holder to transfer the permit twice until 2021. After that, transfers are prohibited except to an immediate family member or another mooring holder.

The council is expected to discuss the issue at an upcoming meeting.