Foes of Boating Center Assail Report

Opponents of a proposed boating instruction center at Channel Islands Harbor on Wednesday assailed an environmental review as inadequate and biased.

Jon Ziv, a dentist who lives near the proposed project, said studies of wind patterns, traffic and alternative locations were flawed because they were based on “grossly false and inadequate data.”

Ziv and at least a dozen other beach-area residents urged a county review board to reject the environmental studies that must be approved for the project to go forward.

“If the data is inaccurate, the report should be dismissed,” Ziv said.

Members of the county’s Environmental Report Review Committee listened to the speakers’ comments, but did not make a decision.

The study probably will return to the committee next month for a vote. If the environmental impact report is approved, the project would then go before the Board of Supervisors for final approval.

The county’s Harbor Department is proposing to build the center at Bluefin Circle. It would offer sailing and boating instruction.

Operated by the county, the $6-million center would offer sailing and marine ecology courses in partnership with Cal State Channel Islands.

The state Department of Boating and Waterways is contributing $4.2 million to the project, with the county kicking in $1.8 million.

But nearby residents have protested the county’s preferred location, saying the two-story center would block their harbor views and disturb herons that nest in a nearby park. They are pushing the county to back an alternative site on the east side of the harbor.

Experts consulted by the county, however, have twice concluded that prevailing winds make the Bluefin Circle location the safest for beginning sailors.