Enforcement--None if by Land

Next week, city officials will consider strengthening a law designed to keep people from living aboard their boats or using the docks for commercial purposes in the waterfront neighborhood of Mandalay Bay.

A sound idea, but there is one problem, said code enforcement officer Joe Avelar-- the city has no boat and, therefore, no way to enforce the new law.

Mandalay Bay is a development of 738 single-family dwellings, townhouses and condominiums separated from Channel Islands Harbor at the West Channel Islands Boulevard bridge. Unlike the harbor, a commercial port owned by the county, Mandalay Bay is a man-made recreational harbor within the city of Oxnard.

The city has long banned commercial ventures within the area. But lax enforcement, complicated by the lack of a patrol boat, has allowed violators to go unpunished, officials said.

Locked gates and fences make enforcing the waterway ordinance difficult, said Avelar, who has overseen code enforcement in Mandalay Bay for 20 years. Officers risk trespassing by walking across the land to get to the docks, he said.

The only way to effectively patrol the area, city officials and residents agree, is from the water.

“It is the city’s responsibility to police the bay. But it’s impractical and it’s not good code enforcement to knock on people’s doors and go through people’s private property,” said William Henry Jr., president of the Channel Islands Waterfront Homeowners Assn.

On April 8, the City Council is expected to approve the updated version of the law, which tries to balance the rights of boaters in the public portion of the channels and canals with that of homeowners whose private easements border the public right of way.

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The call for an updated ordinance began in 1995, following several boat fires, as well as several cases of commercial boats being tied to residential docks, Henry said.

“I’m glad they are doing something about the condition of the bay. They’ve got some pretty dumpy boats in some areas,” said Pat Coker, who has lived on Eastbourne Bay, at the north end of the development, since 1980.

The ordinance has been around for almost 30 years, and covers such topics as live-aboards and abandoned vessels, as well as the discharge of waste and what to do if your boat sinks. It bans fishing in public areas, and bars all commercial activity at the docks.

“The ordinance is a step in the right direction. But, without a boat, forget it. It’d be like enforcing laws on the street without a car,” Avelar said.

Henry said Mandalay Bay homeowners are willing to help the city raise money to purchase or lease a boat to be used by Avelar and his colleagues.

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“They cannot do this from the street,” said the retired Lockheed executive, who lives on West Hemlock Street. “I would really rather them not put out this ordinance without a boat.”

City officials say they are aware of the need.

Oxnard Police Sgt. Bryan MacDonald, who oversees the code enforcement division, said he too is frustrated with having an ordinance that officers can’t effectively enforce.

“I can understand where [Henry is] coming from,” MacDonald said.

Despite the update’s flaws, those who worked on it praise the proposed document.

“Our ordinance wasn’t that bad. But it just needed to be updated,” said Oxnard Fire Chief Henry Lenhart.

For example, live-aboards are allowed in the county-owned harbor south of the bridge, but prohibited in Mandalay Bay. Under the old ordinance, a person could reside on a boat in city waters only “as a place of temporary sojourn.”

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Over the years, some sojourns were anything but temporary, officials said. The new ordinance prohibits sleeping on a boat in Mandalay Bay between 2 and 4 a.m.

City Atty. Gary Gillig said the ordinance is intended to ensure that the city doesn’t some day face a problem with live-aboards.

“We just want to make sure it doesn’t happen,” Gillig said. He noted that live-aboards require water and electrical hookups as well as waste disposal systems that residential docks can’t supply.

“It’s the same thing as someone living in a camper on a city street,” Gillig said.

Changes to the ordinance and increased enforcement will hurt some people, said Henry, but the need to protect the harbor is much greater.

“What we have now are cases where people have the sterns of their fishing boats against the sea wall. When a high-power boat starts up and its stern is against the sea wall, you have potential damage to the sea wall,” he said.

Another problem is dock owners who have more boats tied to their docks than allowed. The current code includes a one-residence, one-boat rule. Renting out dock space is not permitted.

“The intent of Mandalay Bay has never been to provide a haven for commercial activity,” Henry said.

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Cindy Lyons, owner of the Harbor Hopper Ferry, said the law would hurt her business. She docks her three 22-foot boats behind her house on Falkirk Bay, and would be forced to move to a commercial dock south of Channel Islands Boulevard.

Henry praised Lyons for providing a beneficial service, but said the homeowners have the right to expect everyone to abide by the rules.

“As much as I like Cindy and [her partner] Jim Noggle, it is a commercial activity and [their boats] really should be parked in the commercial side of the harbor,” he said.

Henry said it might be worthwhile for businesses in the area who benefit from Lyons’ cruise business to subsidize rental space.

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Henry said a boat would also be beneficial for the Fire Department.

“We want to ensure that our houses are protected from the water side as well as the street side. Boats burn and you have to be able to get to them,” he said.

Lenhart said a boat would be a welcome addition to the harbor. The Fire Department already has two donated personal watercraft. One is docked behind Fire Station No. 6 on Peninsula Road near the West Channel Islands Boulevard bridge, the other stored inside the station.