OCEANSIDE: Harbor renters concerned about possible rate hike

City has proposed increase in slip fees
By CRAIG TENBROECK – Staff Writer | Saturday, March 28, 2009 3:08 PM PDT
OCEANSIDE —- For retiree Steve Ellsworth, home is a faded blue powerboat in the Oceanside Harbor. Sure, it’s a bit like living in a shoebox, he said, but at least the rent is manageable.

Now, even that perk may be watered down.

On April 8, the City Council is scheduled to consider hiking several city fees. One generating the most public outcry is a slip rate increase at the harbor.

“There are a lot of upset people around here,” said Ellsworth, a 10-year harbor resident notified this month of a possible hike.

Oceanside Harbor has about 950 slips where boats can moor. Ten percent can be “live-aboards.”

There’s plenty of demand for the watery real estate —- the waiting list is four to 10 years, depending on the space, said Ray Duncan, Oceanside’s harbor and beaches manager.

Rent is calculated on a per-foot basis and broken into several rate tiers. Boats 29 feet or less, for example, pay $9.60 per foot per month. Longer boats pay more. Live-aboards cost extra.

Ellsworth said he pays about $330 per month.

Oceanside adjusts the rents for inflation every other year, but the last comprehensive overhaul came in 2003, said Deputy City Manager Don Hadley.

City staffers will propose a few different rate tables for council consideration, Duncan said. Under one scenario, renters who live aboard large boats could see increases of more than 40 percent in two years.

Duncan said the extra cash is needed to chip away at $16 million in harbor improvements, from sewer mains to bathroom upgrades, over the next two decades.

Even with the largest proposed changes, Oceanside’s rates would stay below the regional average, Duncan said.

But some renters say it’s a rotten time to raise their cost of living. Several packed into a special meeting Thursday of the Harbor and Beaches Advisory Committee to object to the proposed increase. The committee decided, on a split vote, against recommending rate hikes to the council.

Ellsworth said he’s keeping his fingers crossed hoping that the council will agree.

“Worse comes to worse, I’ll just sell the boat,” Ellsworth said. “Get a motor home.”