Marina Rentals

Your article on the huge rental increase at the Newport Bay marina showcases a major dilemma for Orange County’s property management philosophies and for all of their lessees. The property manager must obtain a full and proper rate of return or be castigated for not properly serving the public, and yet, the lessees can only afford to pay a percentage of what they can earn.

I suggest that the problem and its resolution lie in the valuation methodology. What is a mud flat worth anyway? With any zone, any use conditions I suppose one could build a 30-story (mud for beach) luxury hotel where the marina currently operates, and $4,750 a month would be cheap rent. But presuming the current marina use is in fact the most desirable use, how can it possibly be valued more highly than the revenue it generates? And paying 20% or 25% of your gross in rental payments in this era of high wages, multiple government fees and reporting requirements are so demoralizing and are such a disincentive that it must be obvious to everyone that it is inappropriate.

A special valuation category must somehow be derived for rental fees as well as for possessory interest taxes so that these items can be calculated in the community’s best interest including not squelching our hard-working, risk-taking entrepreneurs out of businesses that provide highly desirable health, recreational and other special purpose services. Perhaps a permanent ombudsman is needed to assist both sides.

RUSSELL KIESSIG

Dana Point