Boat crash spurs look at charters

Councilman wants to know regulations and how Newport Beach benefits from noisy boats for hire.A charter boat accident in November in Newport Beach may result in greater scrutiny of all the city’s charter boat operations.

Prompted by the Nov. 19 crash near Lido Isle, City Councilman John Heffernan this week asked for a review in January of how much money the city makes from charter boats and how they’re regulated. He’s not the first to bring up the issue -- Councilman Tod Ridgeway in 2002 suggested more regulation of the boats, leading some boat operators to believe they’re not wanted in the harbor.

“Whatever happens ends up in our bay,” Heffernan said. “We get the nuisance, we get the noise -- what benefit do we get?”

The city’s charter boat businesses offer hundreds of events each year, such as weddings and private parties. Christmastime is often the busiest part of the year for charters, because of the annual boat parade and holiday light viewing. Some boats offer tours, dining and live music.

The city issues permits for the charter boats to conduct business in the harbor. The charters must follow certain rules and regulations, and they seem to be doing that, said Chris Miller, the city’s harbor resources supervisor.

“We have a good relationship with the charter industry, and they seem to be abiding by the rules as far we can tell,” Miller said.

Mark Silvey, who chairs the marine committee of the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce, said the boats use decibel monitors to avoid violating noise rules.

“There’s really no noise problem,” he said. “The only problem we have with charter boats is that some of the boats coming into the harbor are getting bigger and bigger.”

The city’s harbor commission last week reviewed the crash of Endeavor, a 91-foot charter boat that lost power in Newport Harbor on Nov. 19 and ran into several boats and private docks with 68 people aboard. No one was injured.

Commission members on Wednesday said they’re not aware of ongoing safety concerns with large charter boats in the harbor.

“I think talking about a safety issue is kind of ridiculous because it’s happened once,” said commission member Seymour Beek.

Others agreed the crash was an isolated incident.

“As far as I know there hasn’t been any major accidents involving any of those large boats,” Harbor Patrol Deputy Joel Monroe said.But despite a record of safety, Heffernan and Councilman Tod Ridgeway think the charter boats are a business that may need more regulation.

Heffernan said the nuisance caused by charter boats is the No. 1 complaint he heard in his six-month term as mayor, and Ridgeway has complained that charter boat patrons cause traffic that clogs Lido Marina Village but doesn’t generate any money for city stores and restaurants.

“What you’ll see is people leaving to go to the party boats, going on buses, coming back and virtually not spending one penny in the city,” Ridgeway said.

“It’s a very big business in this community, and while we have a passenger tax, it doesn’t begin to cover the loss of revenue because of the patronage of these boats.”

Ridgeway said better coordination between city officials and boat operators is needed.

Charter boat operators were alarmed earlier this year by proposed revisions to the way their permits are issued, changes that the City Council could vote on early in 2006. While Heffernan’s request may raise new concerns for businesses, he thinks some residents will say it’s about time the city looked into the issue.

“It may be a hot topic to the people that operate these boats, but my concern is less [for] them and more [for] our residents that have a right to have peace and tranquillity in their homes,” Heffernan said.

But it’s unclear how much more the city is able to regulate the boats. Because they offer water access to people who don’t have their own boats, the state Coastal Commission might argue charter boat businesses are protected by the Coastal Act, Newport Beach Assistant City Manager Dave Kiff said.

“We may find that they’re an annoyance and they don’t bring enough revenue into the city, but I seriously doubt we can do anything about that,” he said.

QUESTION

Do charter boats in Newport Harbor need more regulations?

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