Harbor Island Residents Will Pay Rent to County : Real estate: Amount due for waterfront property was negotiated over 14 years.

After 14 years of negotiation, homeowners on an exclusive residential island will begin next month to pay rent to the county for their waterfront property.

The money, approximately $168,000 a year, including back rent totaling $1.1 million, will go to the Newport Beach Tidelands Fund, which maintains county tidelands in Upper and Lower Newport Bay, said a state Lands Commission official.

In addition to monthly payments, Harbor Island homeowners will owe rent dating back to 1981, when homeowners first agreed to pay rent as soon as an amount was decided upon. The retroactive rent will be due when homeowners sign a 49-year lease sometime next week, a county official said.

The Harbor Island beaches were declared public property in 1940 by the state appellate court, but the county discovered that it had jurisdiction over the tidelands only in 1970. In 1977, the County Board of Supervisors decided to charge rent, but reaching an agreement on the amount proved difficult.

“The major reason it took so long was that it was a unique land appraisal,” said Barry Permenter, a realty agent with the county General Services Agency. “It was difficult to determine what was fair. Over the 14 years, there had never been an agreement.”

Negotiations were also complicated by the fact that three parties--the state, the county and the residents--were involved, Permenter said. The county was made a trustee of the property by the state, but the beaches are considered public property, he said.

Residents could not be reached for comment on the decision, but Permenter, who worked on the negotiations, said, “Naturally, always a few people aren’t satisfied, but most feel it’s fair.”

Rates were based on an independent appraisal of the county tidelands, a roughly 30-foot strip of beach along the waterfront.

The largest single payment will be $26,435 a year for an area covering 8,462 square feet; the smallest one will be $185 per year for 80 square feet.

All 33 properties on the gated island have some beachfront property, but three homeowners will be exempted from paying rent because their property rests on what is considered city-owned tidelands.