Small-Boat Harbor Resists Big-Boat Tide

As marinas across Southern California make way for larger boats and more intense development, Dana Point Harbor is stubbornly clinging to its small-boat, small-town character like a barnacle to a hull.

And denizens of the Cap Cod-inspired marina wouldn’t have it any other way.

Orange County is about to embark on an $82-million revitalization plan for the 30-year-old landmark. But after several years of lobbying by local boaters, the final plan calls for relatively few changes to the look and feel of the marina, with much of the money going instead to rebuilding the existing docks and boat slips.

When the county announced plans to remake the harbor in 1997, some boaters feared it would be transformed into Marina del Rey south, with new hotels and amusements rising from the shore and yachts clogging the marina, crowding out the weekend boaters with their more modest vessels.

“One of the things we like is it’s a low-rise,” said Mark Acosta, who’s had a boat there since 1987. “The buildings don’t block the wind; they don’t block the view. It’s very picturesque, and it’s not overly commercialized.”

But after much battling, officials crafted a vision for the harbor that boaters hail. The final plan, in fact, doesn’t call for the introduction of any new businesses to the marina. Some slips for larger boats will be created, but not at the expense of boaters who now dock there.

When work is complete, the biggest changes visitors will notice is a new oceanside pavilion and expanded park along the main marina channel. A new parking structure will also be erected.

“It was built as a small-boat harbor, and there’s no intent to change that,” said Bob Hamilton, county manager of harbors, beaches and parks.

In a sense, Dana Point is going against the grain. Marina del Rey in Los Angeles County has seen a steady buildup of high-rise hotels and condos as well as restaurants around its marina. Long Beach plans to add a hotel at its Alamitos Bay marina and is locked in a battle with boaters over plans to replace some small-boat slips with space for bigger vessels.

Dana Point Harbor is a 212-acre marina built by the Army Corps of Engineers in 1971. It contains about 2,500 boat slips nestled along a collection of shops and restaurants. On the western edge is the Orange County Marine Institute, an educational facility that helps children and adults explore the ocean environment. Along the length of the channel are walkways and narrow patches of park with picnic tables and barbecue grills.

The atmosphere is decidedly different from that of Newport Harbor, where the coastline is covered mostly by private homes and the marina is filled with expensive yachts. In Newport Beach, 15 of the 16 marinas are private. At Dana Point, both marinas are public.

Many of Dana Point’s 43 shops and eateries have been there from the beginning, like the Wind and Sea restaurant and Dana Wharf Sportfishing. John Shimko’s shop, Joy’s Gifts, has been at the harbor for 27 years. And just about everyone who’s ever been to the harbor knows about Turk’s restaurant and bar, a favorite haunt for the locals.

The first plans for revitalizing the harbor called for a far more extensive face lift of the developments on land and the configuration of the marina itself. Boaters and other residents were immediately alarmed, fearing a “mansionization” of the harbor.

“It did not take into account the boaters’ point of view,” said David McMillan, who’s had small boats at the harbor since 1971. “The plans put forward by the county would have been disastrous. . . . The boaters got together. They were quite successful in getting the county to listen to the people in the harbor.”

The message was clear.

“Dana Point is primarily a small-boat harbor,” added McMillan. “It is the total antithesis of Marina del Rey.”

Of the 21 marinas spread through Marina del Rey’s 800-acre harbor, 20 are private. The California Yacht Club even has private parking lots so its celebrity members can discreetly come and go.

Dana Point is a different story.

Acosta, who headed the opposition to the original plan, is typical of the boaters at Dana Point. He’s had a 17-footer, a 27-foot sailboat and now a 35-foot powerboat. He said the harbor has a fairly high number of people who live aboard their boats, which helps give the marina a community feel.

“The people who live aboard their boats watch out for their neighbors,” who are primarily weekend boaters, said Acosta.

Acosta said he and others wanted to maintain that community feel while upgrading infrastructure that everyone agreed was showing its age.

During whale-watching season and throughout the summer, for example, getting a parking spot near the shops and restaurants on a first try is about as likely as winning the lottery.

All sides also agreed that the slips needed to be rebuilt. But the big question became the degree to which bigger boats should be accommodated.

“Typically, boats over the last 10 years have grown a little bit wider and taller to facilitate more room on board,” said Dave Geoffrey, executive director of the Southern California Marine Assn. “A 30-footer 20 years ago would have had a beam of about 8 feet. Now it’s 11 feet. Owners want more usable space, just like a house.”

Some in Dana Point, however, worried that building much larger slips would crowd out weekend boaters and change the modest feel of the area.

The county’s final plan calls for an increase in the size of all boat slips, though the exact numbers are still being worked out. Though the changes will allow the harbor to accommodate bigger vessels, many smaller boat owners feel secure that they won’t be pushed out.

“We were really concerned in the beginning about what would happen to the little guys,” said Marla Sherman, owner of a boutique at the harbor.

But in the end, Sherman said, planners and county Supervisor Tom Wilson made the extra effort to make the plan work for all parties.