Extension of Major Lease at Marina OKd : Government: Los Angeles County supervisors approve the precedent-setting deal by a 4-1 vote despite pleas by Gloria Molina not to rush into it.

Despite pleas from Supervisor Gloria Molina not to rush into a deal that will tie the county’s hands beyond the middle of the next century, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a precedent-setting extension on a major Marina del Rey lease. The board’s 4-1 vote, which came after more than three hours of heated discussion, gives Jona Goldrich control of 18 acres of county-owned waterfront property until the year 2062.

County negotiators hailed the deal as the best possible while representatives of Marina del Rey tenants and boaters accused the supervisors of giving away the public property to well-connected developers.

Throughout the board session, Molina questioned county officials and warned against moving ahead with the lease extension without a better understanding of the marina.

“I’m concerned about locking ourselves in while we have not evaluated the overall fiscal needs of the marina,” Molina said. “You can’t make a deal like this in isolation.”

Rather than “being in the driver’s seat,” Molina said, “we are now being controlled by leaseholders” who operate the marina’s apartments, hotels, restaurants, offices, shops and boat slips on long-term leases.

But her request that supervisors be given a full report on the marina before deciding on the Goldrich matter was ignored.

Instead, her board colleagues embraced testimony from county officials and the three consultants who negotiated the deal with Goldrich in more than a year of secret talks--attorneys Richard Riordan and Richard Volpert and economist Allan Kotin.

Board Chairman Deane Dana, whose district includes the marina, said he thinks the lease extension will correct problems in the original marina leases, signed in the 1960s, and increase the county’s return. He also took issue with a series of articles in The Times last week that raised questions about the county’s management of the public marina and its below-market rate of return on the property.

“It is not strictly a moneymaking venture,” Dana said, noting that the harbor provides public facilities such as a boat launch ramp and a beach.

Retired UCLA management professor Fred E. Case, an authority on Southern California real estate and a professional appraiser, analyzed the marina at The Times’ request and concluded that the property was worth $1.4 billion--and that the county’s annual profit from existing leases of about $15 million was a poor return on such valuable property.

But Kotin, the county’s economist, dismissed the figure as wrong and told the supervisors that the marina is only worth $400 million to $600 million. He said later that the figure was his estimate and was not based on any appraisals.

Under terms of the deal, the county will extend Goldrich’s lease on Dolphin Marina, a complex of apartments, boat slips and a restaurant, until 2062. Otherwise, Goldrich’s existing lease--like some others in the marina--would have expired in 2023.

County officials say the lease extension will increase county income by encouraging Goldrich to build 68 new luxury apartments and 75 units of “congregate care” housing for the elderly.

Goldrich will also be required to spend $6 million to renovate 204 apartments on the site and improve 462 boat slips. And for the first time, the county will receive a share of any profits if Goldrich sells or refinances the property.

In a personal appeal to approve the deal, Goldrich, a prominent developer and a major campaign contributor to the supervisors, said the county’s negotiators were tough with him. “They have fought for every nickel like it was their own,” he said.

Supervisor Mike Antonovich joined in voting for the extension despite a remark during the session that he had “a problem with the length of the lease.” Antonovich also questioned why the county does not have an adequate reserve for maintenance of the marina.

An Antonovich spokesman said later that “most of those concerns were resolved” during the discussion, which lasted well into the afternoon.

Supervisor Kenneth Hahn expressed confidence in the county staff and consultants to act in the best interest of the taxpayers. Supervisor Ed Edelman also endorsed the pact, saying it was “as good a deal as you can get.”

But Carole Stevens, Molina’s appointee to the county’s Small Craft Harbor Commission, which advises the supervisors on Marina matters, said she made an error in voting to recommend the Goldrich deal last December. “I’m extremely uncomfortable with my vote,” Stevens said. “Is this the best deal? I’m not convinced this is.”

Stevens said the county should have an independent real estate appraiser determine the value of the marina before granting valuable lease extensions.

Marina tenants and boaters were sharply critical of the Goldrich deal. “What you are doing is giving away the marina,” said John Rizzo, president of the Marina Tenants Assn. After recounting various decisions of the supervisors, Rizzo said the harbor is not being run for the public’s benefit but “as a racketeering enterprise.”

Angie Ferns of the Pioneer Skippers’ Boat Owners Assn. said the existing leases should be enforced, including requirements that leaseholders maintain their docks and buildings. “Do not give it away,” she said.