City of Powell River staff has been directed to report on harbour availability for local boaters.
At the June 15 committee of the whole meeting, councillor CaroleAnn Leishman said she had been contacted by a boat owner facing difficulties. She said a couple had built a boat 35 years ago, have been property owners in the city for about 40 years, and they approached her because their understanding of the south/Westview harbour rates and regulations bylaw is that they had to contact the city prior to May 1 to get a potential spot in the south harbour at the monthly moorage rate.
Leishman said they had work done on their boat in a boatyard in Lund and didn’t realize there was a May 1 cut-off.
“They reached out to me to ask if I could give clarification on the bylaw,” said Leishman. “I read the bylaw about 10 times and I found it so complicated and so convoluted with the different schedules. I came up with a different answer every time I read it.
“I reached out to our chief administrative officer and I was trying to get to the bottom of it. It sounds like if you didn’t get on the list by May 1, you have to pay the daily moorage rate in the south harbour if you’re not one of a few select boaters who got on the list prior to May 1. This particular couple would not be able to afford to keep their boat in the south harbour at the daily moorage rate, which is the transient rate.”
Leishman said she was confused why the city is prioritizing transient vessels and not allowing resident property owners to pay their moorage on a monthly moorage rate, three months in advance, for the summer. She said the daily moorage rate is “super expensive.”
“I wanted to bring this forward because I am really concerned that we have tax-paying residents in our city who have boats that have now gone to Lund, Bliss Landing, Okeover Inlet, Saltery Bay and the Beach Gardens,” said Leishman. “All of the harbours are full and they are all prioritizing transients.”
Leishman said the couple is willing to pay three months or even a year in advance at the monthly rate but they are told they can’t because they missed the May 1 deadline.
“If that’s the case, I’m looking for an emergency resolution that we can give priority to our resident taxpayers who have boats,” said Leishman. “They are even willing to raft their boat in the south harbour. They understand they may not get a dockside slip.”
Mayor says issue has come up previously
Mayor Dave Formosa said council went through this a number of years ago and a number of people appeared before council regarding this issue. He said he voted against spending city money into the south harbour rebuild.
Formosa said the reason why the city took control of that harbour was for transient boaters.
“That was the whole sale of the millions we put into that part of the marina, where we got control of that revenue,” said Formosa. “What I understand is there is a list of probably 15 or 30 people who are on a list but that doesn’t necessarily mean they are going to get a spot. I think all the spots are filled.
"What we would have to do is probably be the only marina out there to take away our daily rate, because all of the marinas do this. For transient boaters, you charge more. If you put local people there, there’s no room for transients. We subsidized the harbour so visitors could come to our city for tourism.”
Director of infrastructure Tor Birtig said there is a daily rate in the south boat harbour from May 1 to September 15. If people are not booked into the south harbour on a three-month rate prior to that date, then they move to a daily rate.
Birtig said there are 90 vessels that are locally owned in the harbour, as well as 14 commercial vessels. He said there are about 900 feet of boats on the waitlist already.
“We’ve left two floats open to transients,” said Birtig. “What we are doing from May to September to strike a balance, allowing some transients to come in, is we set aside those two docks so we can get those tourism dollars. If the locals are not already in the south harbour, they can come in at a daily rate. We are trying to strike a balance between transients and locals.”
Birtig said the north harbour is full and there are about 270 boats on the waiting list, plus those waiting to get in the south harbour.
“We have a good problem and we feel we are balancing it operationally quite well,” said Birtig.
Leishman suggests prioritizing locals
Leishman said the couple that approached her will either have to sell their boat because they can’t afford the daily rate, or tie up to one of the hooks in Westview outside of the harbour.
“I feel we are shooting ourselves in the foot by not prioritizing our local residents,” said Leishman. “Can we amend the bylaw to prioritize local residents? They should be the first priority.”
Leishman said the couple in question was 30th on the list for getting into the harbour.
“This is kind of an emergency for people who are having to move their boat out of other harbours because they can’t pay the daily rate,” said Leishman. “All of the harbours are full.”
Committee chair Cindy Elliott said the reality is the number of people who want to have monthly rates and dock their boats in Powell River exceeds the amount of space available.
“That’s the reality,” said Elliott.
Birtig said if the city was to systematically go through the waitlist and accommodate local boaters, he doesn’t believe the couple in question would have a spot even then.
Councillor Maggie Hathaway suggested direction be given to staff to see if they can come up with some sort of solution that goes along with Leishman’s thinking. She added that she didn’t think there was anything council could do for the couple but make an exception for them.
“I’m not willing to do that,” said Hathaway.
Council gave consent for a staff report.
