Port Hueneme OKs Tax on Beach View

Over the objection of more than 600 beach-area homeowners, the Port Hueneme City Council has imposed an unprecedented tax on beach properties based on their views and access to the ocean.

The special assessments of $66 to $184 per year to pay for beach upkeep earns the Ventura County seaside city of 20,000 the distinction of being the first in California to, in essence, tax properties based on how much of the ocean is visible from their balconies and windows.

The council’s 4-0 vote for the beach assessment district came before the largest audience for a city public hearing in 20 years, with many of the 225 people spilling out of council chambers into the City Hall lobby. It also followed the certified submission of individual written protests from more than 50% of the 1,250 beach-area homeowners.

“This was a total sham,” said Shiela Merlino, a 51-year-old caterer who lives in Surfside Village. “They listened to all these people and just did what they wanted.”

City officials reacted with anger to residents who called the assessments a “view tax,” arguing that it is based on the property value that area homes derive from a clean beach, and not the aesthetic value of their vistas of sunsets on the Pacific.

“Even a blind man living in an oceanfront home would have to pay,” said Mayor Orvene Carpenter after the proposal’s passage.

City Manager Dick Velthoen argued that the beach assessments were not unique because the neighboring city of Oxnard created a similar district in the Mandalay Bay area. But the Oxnard district imposes an across-the-board $98 annual assessment on all homeowners, while Port Hueneme will have a three-tier assessment that charges oceanfront homeowners the highest amount, and those living within two blocks of the beach with no ocean view the lowest assessments.

Opponents contend that the council rejected their challenge because a majority of the property owners do not live in the city and would pose no threat to the councilmen at election time. Only 25% of the units are owner-occupied, with the remainder rented out or used as weekend getaways by people living in Los Angeles and elsewhere in the state.

“This proposed district has been gerrymandered so that the only people hurt are those of us who don’t vote in the city and are politically unimportant,” said Bob Moesch, president of the Anacapa View Homes Homeowners Assn.

About five residents living outside the beach district supported the assessment. One supporter noted that it would cost him more than $1,400 annually in parking fees if he wanted to use the beach daily, while beach residents pay nothing.

“I use the beach to walk my dog,” said Wayne Jones, another supporter who lives away from the beach. “When my dog does things, I expect the city people to clean it up.”

More than 25 speakers attacked the proposal during nearly two hours of public input before council members approved the measure without comment.

Several protesters said that the silence showed that the council had intended before listening to the homeowners’ comments to approve the plan recommended by the city manager.

Velthoen stressed that rejection of the assessment would force him to lay off at least several part-time city employees and cut additional services. The beach maintenance district will raise $150,000 toward the $425,000 annual cost of beach upkeep, city officials have said.