PORT TOWNSEND — A city of Port Townsend and Northwest Maritime Center proposal for 10 mooring buoys to tie up visiting boats along downtown’s waterfront has Port of Port Townsend officials and a shoreline hotel owner concerned about Quincy Dock expansion for future boat and seaplane moorage.
The city proposes a “transient mooring buoy field” off the downtown historic district to alleviate damage from boat anchors to shoreline eelgrass habitat for juvenile salmon.
The public comment period on the proposal’s environmental review ends Oct. 29, city Senior Planner Judy Surber said, and a public hearing on the proposal will be scheduled at a later date.
Eelgrass markers
Surber said the proposed moorage buoys would complement existing eelgrass marker buoys.
“Now, eelgrass marker buoys say, ‘Don’t anchor there,'” he said.
“The mooring buoys would show boaters where they can tie up,” Surber said of the 10 moorage buoys proposed.
Surber said by locating permanent moorage buoys, boats would cause less disturbance to sediment because all buoys would be located away from shallow waters hosting eelgrass beds. The buoys would be secured using helix screws that permanently secure lines to buoys where boats can tie up.
As proposed, the maritime center would monitor and manage who ties up to what buoy, Surber said.
Three of the buoys would be located between the Northwest Maritime Center pier and City Dock, and seven would be placed in two lines parallel to the old Quincy Dock’s north side.
Crowding Quincy?
Jim Pivarnik, Port of Port Townsend deputy director, said the port is concerned that the two buoy sites proposed nearest Quincy Dock would create a conflict with Quincy Hotel owner Kevin Harris’ plans to improve and extend historic Quincy Dock.
That is adjacent to the former historic clam cannery building that Harris has converted to a four-room luxury inn.
“We’re not opposed to the mooring field,” Pivarnik said. “We believe it is an amenity that needs to be addressed.”
However, Pivarnik said that a seaplane landing adjacent to boat moorage sites might not be a good idea.
Surber said there were options to consider, such as designating the two moorage buoys that caused concern for small boats or moving the buoys locations closer to the maritime center, which recently opened at the end of Water Street at Point Hudson Marina.
Historic, commercial
Harris, who is working with the city and the port to rehabilitate Quincy Dock and add a boat and seaplane float to it, said he was concerned that the mooring buoys would detract from the historic and commercial value of Quincy Dock, which is in an advanced state of decay.
“Quincy Street Dock has been here a long time for vessels to land, a lot longer than the city or maritime center’s plans have been,” Harris said Wednesday, looking out over the dock.
“This dock adds a lot of character to this side of the street, and the project encroaches on the dock that could actually take away the dock’s commercial viability.”
Harris said he would be responding to the city’s proposal in writing and has already discussed it with both port and city staff.
The port is also preparing a response, Pivarnik said.
The city deeded the Quincy Street Dock easement over to the port for economic development uses in the 1980s.
That action came after the state ferry landing was moved from Quincy to its existing waterfront site off Water Street near the south entrance to the downtown historic district.
Tidelands area
The port’s ownership encompasses about 3,000 square feet of tidelands.
The city of Port Townsend owns all upland facilities and uses adjacent to the dock.
Quincy Dock is unused and fenced off with access prohibited.
“We need to get together on the same page,” Pivarnik said. “If we were involved in the planning process, it would have been a lot easier.”
Harris agreed, saying he wanted more involvement in the process.
“The city should do more to engage the property owners who have property in the tidelands,” Harris said.
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Port Townsend-Jefferson County Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com
