Board Clears Way for Navy Land Transfer
The Oxnard Harbor District’s board has signed off on an agreement with the city of Port Hueneme that will clear the way for the transfer of surplus Navy land and allow the tiny port to expand.
It was the last hurdle to the transfer of the former 33-acre site of the Naval Civil Engineering Laboratory, which has been delayed for several months. City officials tied the transfer to a federally funded sand replenishment program on the municipal beach.
“Now the city has to let the federal government know they’re removing their objection to the transfer of the NCEL to the harbor district,” said Kam Quarles, the port’s president of marketing and trade zone services. “This would have taken place a lot faster if this were not linked to sand replenishment.”
The city has said the port delayed agreeing to sign a pact that would have allowed the land transfer sooner. Commissioners approved the agreement on Monday.
The agreement calls for the harbor district to loan the city money to repair a crumbling sea wall on the site in an emergency and to lobby for federal money to continue sand replenishment operations. Moreover, the district will consider depositing dredge material from any future operations to deepen the harbor on Hueneme Beach.
Officials envision the port’s portion of the military land should be fully reused for commercial purposes within five years.
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