Group tries to make it easier for boaters to navigate Dana Point Harbor red tape

By TAYLOR HILL

2013-05-03 11:15:24

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With the increasing number of managers, operators and overseers in Dana Point Harbor, boaters and harbor users can have a hard time figuring out exactly which person or what agency they should turn to with questions and concerns regarding topics such as the harbor's upcoming $140 million landside revitalization, dock maintenance or who takes care of recycling.

But the boating advocacy group Dana Point Boaters Association has created a one-stop shop that it hopes will give those looking for answers a place to ask questions and raise concerns that will be heard by the right ears.

"The harbor's gotten complicated these days," said association vice president James Lenthall. "Boaters who have been around a long time have seen the governance of the harbor change drastically over the years."

The harbor, once operated by two private marina companies in the east and west basins, has become a complex system run by Orange County. Three marina operators – one landside (Embarcadero Marina) and two waterside (Dana Point Marina Co. and Dana West Marina) – are now contracted to manage their respective marinas, while OC Parks and OC Dana Point Harbor and the Harbor Patrol divvy up authority of the day-to-day operations.

"When you don't know who to ask the question to, it's hard to get the right answer," Lenthall said.

Under the group's boater liaison program, once a boater submits a question on the Dana Point Boaters Association website, www.danapointboaters.org, the group will review it and determine which harbor entity should be informed.

Every month, the association will meet with harbor agency heads and raise questions, concerns, comments and ideas submitted on the website. Topics can be anything, as long as they pertain to Dana Point Harbor.

"We think we can press these agencies into providing a thoughtful response," Lenthall said.

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