Overview:
Santa Barbara aims to overhaul its boat slip transfer policy. In one case, a 50-foot slip recently sold for $300,000.
A few lucky boaters who have hoped for years to dock their marine vessels in Santa Barbara Harbor may finally get a chance.
A chance, that is, if they win a lottery.
A new system of doling out boat slips was recommended Tuesday by the Santa Barbara City Council Ordinance Committee.
The system aims to end the practice of boaters parting with their slips in private transactions to those willing to open their wallets for the rare chance to tie up in one of California’s most desirable harbors. The matter will go to the full City Council in early January.
The practice of private dealing has meant some would-be Santa Barbara boaters have languished on city waiting lists for years.
Demand has been so high that a 50-foot slip that had been obtained off the city wait list at no cost was recently flipped by one permittee for $300,000, Nathan Alldredge, operations manager for the harbor, said. The transaction illustrated how the current system can encourage people to place their names on waiting lists even though they have no intention of using the slip themselves.
Under the new proposal, people who own a vessel or intend to buy one could enter an annual lottery. The city would draw names in a lottery format and award winners a coveted slip in the harbor.
The new lottery “would dramatically lower the barrier for entry to the general public,” Alldredge said. Those presently on the waiting lists would be the first added to the new lottery list. The city’s harbor is composed of four marinas which provide a total of about 1,100 slips.
“This is such a long time coming,” said Councilwoman Kristen Sneddon, who chaired the meeting. Presently, it’s “incredibly frustrating to know this black market is going on” for slips.
No boaters appeared before the committee to voice either objections or support.
Councilman Mike Jordan said the new system “will reinvigorate those who have given up.”
But he expressed concerns that some individuals might try to “game” the revised system despite the efforts of the city to simplify and secure the lottery process. Jordan identified a potential loophole whereby a lottery winner could choose not to place their boat in the slip but instead informally rent the space to another boat owner for a fee.
Alldredge replied that while such a scenario would be allowed under harbor rules, he didn’t think boaters would make that choice.