Boating Center OKd Despite Residents’ Ire

After months of delay and contentious debate, a sharply divided Ventura County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a boating instruction center for Channel Islands Harbor near Oxnard.

Over the heated objections of several harbor-area residents, a board majority agreed that the 18,000-square-foot center should be built on Bluefin Circle near the Whale’s Tail restaurant.

Analysis by technical consultants hired by the county convinced supervisors that the Bluefin site on the harbor’s western flank was the safest and most logical place to put the boating facility.

Critics had attacked those reports as dismissive of environmental concerns and alternate locations on the east side of the harbor. But Supervisor Kathy Long said the county board had carefully studied the pros and cons on several locations presented by experts.

“This board contracted with and committed tax dollars to hire independent consultants who, at the end of the day, have to stand by their word,” Long said.

Board members said they were worried that if they delayed any further, the county could have lost a $4.5-million grant from the state Department of Boating and Waterways to help build the center. The state money would pay for the lion’s share of the $6.3-million project, with the county contributing an additional $1.8 million. A boating center was first publicly proposed two years ago.

“We are at the time where we have to, pardon the pun, fish or cut bait,” said Supervisor Steve Bennett, who voted in favor of the project along with Long and board Chairwoman Judy Mikels.

An official with the state Department of Boating and Waterways sent a Dec. 1 letter to the county indicating that the agency would pull its money if supervisors chose to move forward with anything other than the Bluefin site.

That infuriated Supervisor John Flynn, who accused the state of interfering in a local decision. Flynn voted no and Supervisor Linda Parks abstained, saying the state’s position tied her hands.

Harbor Director Lyn Krieger said the boating center would help reinvigorate a picturesque but underused county asset. Officials envision a two-story facility that would offer sailing and ocean-safety instruction to all ages.

The center would also offer rowing, canoeing, kayaking and marine education classes in partnership with Cal State Channel Islands. Krieger and the board majority said it could kick-start a harbor that was dubbed by one speaker Tuesday as “the Dead Sea.”

“I am convinced after reading a 2 1/2-foot stack of papers ... that this is the best decision for the future of the harbor,” Mikels said.

Opponents said they would continue their fight against the center when the matter goes before the California Coastal Commission. That could come as early as next week, Krieger said.

Critics have derided the facility as an eyesore that would eat up park areas used by visitors. They also contend that herons that nest in trees near the project would be disturbed, and perhaps flee, as a result of construction.

But the alternative location they asked supervisors to consider was rejected as unsuitable by several consultants hired by the county, who said it was unsafe for novice sailors. Prevailing winds on that side could push beginners into rocky jetties, while the Bluefin site benefits from winds that would slow their small sailboats, consultants said.

Flynn, whose district includes the project site and who initially supported it, said he changed his mind after talking to opponents. On Tuesday, he accused the harbor staff of giving the county board doctored information designed to support the Bluefin Circle location, something Krieger categorically denied.

“I had to come to terms with the way the information evolved,” Flynn said. “I really didn’t have faith in the staff that was providing the information.”