Port Delays Decision on Coronado Ferry : Plans Further Study Before Ruling on Resumption of Service

Fearing possible legal entanglements, the San Diego Unified Port District Commission voted Tuesday to wait 90 days before deciding on a proposal to renew ferry service between San Diego and Coronado.

During the next three months the Port District will study the proposal more carefully, including the prospects of building a $600,000 pier in Coronado, as requested by Star & Crescent Boat Co., the San Diego harbor excursion company promoting the ferry service. The company was seeking commission approval of its proposal on Tuesday.

Star & Crescent and an affiliated company, Southwest Marine Inc., have the development rights, granted by the Port District, to build a $6.5-million shopping and restaurant complex on the Coronado shoreline at Orange Avenue. The ferry is considered an integral part of the development, according to Lloyd A. Schwartz, an attorney for the company.

But the Port District, led by Donald Nay, its executive director, was unwilling to approve either the ferry project or the pier.

The problem, Nay said, is that such tentative approval could unwittingly transfer the Port District’s property rights on the Coronado shoreline to Star & Crescent. “It’s quite confusing . . . if you go ahead with approval,” Nay told the commission, which has generally greeted the ferry proposal with enthusiasm. Nay also said the Port District needs time to study an upcoming consultant’s report on the proposed pier.

There were other questions raised by the commission as well, including whether Star & Crescent would operate the ferry service continuously and whether the Port District reserved the right to bring in a new carrier if Star & Crescent went out of business. Schwartz said his company would guarantee to operate the ferry for five years.

While the Port District is completing its study during the next three months, Star & Crescent will attempt to obtain the necessary ferry permits from the state Public Utilities Commission and the state Department of Transportation, and the required building plan approvals for its commercial complex from the Army Corps of Engineers, the City of Coronado and the Port District.

Although the San Diego to Coronado portion of the proposed ferry service has received the most attention, Star & Crescent also wants to operate a second, and more unpredictable, route between the 24th Street Pier in National City and North Island Naval Air Station. There are questions about the profitability of this commuter service, but Schwartz said his company would like to operate the route for a year as an experiment.