Boat building, sales could end up dry-docked

MIKE WHITEHEAD

Ahoy.

The movers and shakers of the Newport Harbor area should take

notice that the city of Lake Elsinore has finally recognized the

importance of boating. Elsinore is the largest natural lake in

Southern California, and I have always thought that the lake has huge

potential as a boating community.

Now, an Irvine company called Marina Developers LLC has proposed

building a boat mall, taking the idea from the auto mall concept with

full support from the city. The ambitious plan shows 175,000 square

feet of showrooms, 40,000 square feet of service area and 30

dealerships for trailer boats up to 36 feet in length. In addition,

the plans include a marina with 300 slips and dry storage for 500

boats. The 75-acre site will be mixed-use, but the emphasis will be

on boating, and it includes an in-water sea trial area.

Why is the city of Elsinore interested in this project? The

estimated economic effect will include $2 million in sales tax and

local economic activity of $200 million a year. Hoping to open on

Memorial Day in 2005, this complex is expected to lure customers from

neighboring counties, including Orange County. The dilemma for our

local dealers is that this new boat mall might hurt our local boat

dealers.

On the East Coast, Super Sonic Sales will open its boating

mega-center in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. this year with an

82,000-square-foot facility. Florida has recognized the value of

boating for years, with redesigned waterfronts, the largest boat show

and an increase in support from public officials. Lee County

commissioners in Florida are considering a lawsuit against the

federal government about the manatee speed zones and the restrictions

on boating, especially the long channel runs. The eel grass problem

in Newport Harbor comes to mind.

The National Marine Manufacturers Assn. and Michigan State

University in June founded the Recreational Marine Research Center,

which will research boating at the national, regional and local

levels.

“The recreational boating industry lacks a central place to

coordinate and capture data and is greatly hampered by the scarcity

of solid information to support both individual business decisions

and broader advocacy efforts,” association President Thom Dammrich

said. “The [center] will pool the efforts and resources of interested

entities to fill this void and conduct research that would be

prohibitively expensive for any one organization to undertake on its

own.”

Seeing the importance, the Great Lakes region that includes

Michigan, Minnesota, Illinois, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, New York,

Ohio and Indiana is having an economic study performed by the center.

The economic value of boating to the region will be reported using a

grant from the Great Lakes Commission, and the study will include

boating’s economic value of boating, salaries, wages, benefits,

taxes, service industry, fuel, repairs, storage and ancillary

services.

The Newport Harbor area, which includes Costa Mesa, must recognize

the importance of boating and the immense economic value. We have

seen the exodus of boat manufacturers, with only a few builders

remaining on the Westside, and I do not want to see boat dealers

leaving the area, too.

High office and dock rent, lack of dockage and other communities’

enticing new dealerships are affecting our marine industry. We need

to determine the economic value of boating to the harbor area, and

commissioning a study by the center would be an excellent start.

I think that the cities, chambers of commerce and the Newport

Beach Conference and Visitors Bureau should know the effect of

boating on our local economy with actual numbers listed in a detailed

summary.

We need to act and act swiftly as other communities have seen the

value of boating, whether in the high desert with manufacturing or

Elsinore’s planning to capture the trailer boat market.

Lido Village would make a great boat mall instead of condos.

Tune in to my “Boathouse Radio Show” this and every Sunday from 4

to 5 p.m. on KCBQ-AM (1170), or listen over the Internet at

https://www.boat

houseradio.com . You can call in to the toll-free listener line at

(888) 344-1170 and join in on Southern California’s only boating talk

radio show, broadcasting along the coast from San Diego to Oxnard and

out to Santa Catalina Island.

Safe voyages.

* MIKE WHITEHEAD is the Pilot’s boating and harbor columnist. Send

him your harbor and marine-related thoughts and story suggestions by

e-mail to mike@boathousetv.com or visit https://www.boathousetv.com.