Is slow decay really "preservation"?

A letter from Curtis Havel, Harbormaster, Clipper Yacht Harbor

My name’s Curtis Havel and I’m the harbormaster at Clipper Yacht Harbor, a 3rd generation family-owned and operated marina since 1947. Clipper Yacht Harbor is one of 50+ businesses that comprise the Sausalito Sustainable Waterfront Association. Clipper and the SSWA have officially endorsed Measure X and we ask you to support it and us.

KC Pedersen, third generation owner of Clipper Yacht Harbor, has said:

“A working waterfront is an ecosystem. It includes boatyards, maritime businesses, artists, fishermen, tradespeople and more.”

The Marinship Specific Plan and Ordinance 1022 has suffocated our working waterfront and impeded the evolution of this ecosystem. How do you build community when you can’t build anything?

Measure X does not approve any new construction. However, Measure X does allow us to participate in a permitting process with rigorous environmental review and abundant opportunities for meaningful public input (right now, the answer is NO before we even start). There’s no guarantee of a favorable outcome in the permitting process, but at least we’re afforded the same rights as other property and business owners in Sausalito.

The members of the SSWA are the real working waterfront. We employ the vast majority of the maritime trades (over 100 people derive their livelihood from working on the waterfront at Clipper Yacht Harbor alone!). Creating new businesses that are complimentary to the arts and maritime helps support our crew, improve their quality of life, and opens doors to careers in the maritime industry.

We can do this AND preserve the soul of Sausalito’s waterfront.

What's wrong with the current permitting process, and what would Measure X change?

First, let's be clear: Measure X does not approve any development. No new buildings, structures, or projects are included in Measure X.

Waterfront permitting is slow, expensive, and complex. It took Clipper over five years just to renovate a portion of our existing docks. That was the first major marina project here in 20 years. A working marina shouldn't have to fight that hard to keep up its own infrastructure. Measure X gives waterfront operators a glimmer of hope that reinvesting won't put us out of business.

Many of our buildings badly need repair or replacement. Take the dive shop: rebuilding it as-is would never cover the cost of permits, construction, and financing. Making it pencil out means a building with complementary uses that strengthen our core marina business.

How many of you have been through the city's permitting process? If you have, then you know from direct experience how much control your neighbors have over the review process. Now imagine that your project couldn’t be approved unless the entire town voted in favor of it. Sausalito doesn’t have the time or money to put every waterfront project on the ballot, and Measure X would put an end to this wasteful process, that has never in 40+ years produced one new art, industrial or maritime space. 

If Measure X passes, will residents still have a say in what happens on the waterfront?

Yes. In fact, Measure X gives the public more opportunity to weigh in on waterfront proposals — to participate, shape and improve them, or push back.

Under current rules, routine land-use decisions on the waterfront can require a vote of all 7,000+ residents rather than the normal public planning process used everywhere else in town. Imagine facing that for a simple addition to your house.

The result is that in 40 years, not one business has brought forward a single project or improvement that would trigger that vote. This has led to stagnation, lost businesses, and a default "no" before the question can even be asked. Instead of letting proposals come forward so residents can see, discuss, shape (or oppose!) them, these 1985 laws end the conversation before it begins. The Marinship Specific Plan is hurting the maritime ecosystem.

Measure X lets citizens work with the project applicant, neighbors and appointed/elected officialsl to adopt additional land-use and zoning rules, consistent with State law, and create community-benefit programs, including strategies to fix infrastructure and adapt to sea level rise.

If Measure X is adopted, you will gain the right to review, comment on, and shape new development proposals. Every proposal would be subject to a permitting process that includes public review, CEQA environmental review, public hearings, and ample opportunity for public input. It’s your job to participate in this democratic process - if a project gets approved that you don’t like, you retain your appeal rights. 

Don't let the Marinship and our waterfront remain the place where good ideas go to die.

What are the strongest benefits to the City, Marinship businesses, and residents if Measure X passes? 

Keeping the Marinship Specific Plan in place will ensure the continued slow decay of the waterfront. Do you consider that "protection"? Is that "preservation"? 

Our family-owned waterfront businesses want to keep our maritime operations going, and we know that doing nothing will mean the end of our waterfront. The waterfront is an economic ecosystem. We all need each other to thrive. Measure X adjusts the regulatory framework so operators can fund the infrastructure improvements that keep viable businesses here.

Sausalito is an incredibly expensive place to live and do business, and reinvesting in World War II–era infrastructure requires diversification. Measure X lets owners add complementary revenue streams to offset the monumental costs associated with permitting and maintenance.

Measure X's greatest benefit is hope: a clear signal from the community that it's safe to reinvest and that operators seeking to rehabilitate aging structures have public support. Today's permitting process is so grueling that even small improvements stop penciling out - add to that the sentiment that the public opposes any change/improvements further discourages reinvestment by maritime businesses. If we genuinely want to preserve the working waterfront, adopting Measure X is critical.