PORT ANGELES — Port of Port Angeles moorage rates at the port’s marinas will increase in 2013 — the first hike in three years — and boat owners will be required to carry liability insurance.
Port commissioners voted 2-1 Monday for the rate hike, which was heavily attended by boat owners from Boat Haven marina in Port Angeles and John Wayne Marina in Sequim.
Commissioner Paul McHugh cast the dissenting vote and asked fellow Commissioners John Calhoun and Jim Hallett to consider delaying the base increase for another year because of the current economic climate.
Base moorage rates at Boat Haven will increase by about 8 percent in 2013, with different rate increases for different sizes of boats.
Currently, the rates range from $5.40 per foot for a boat in the 20-foot or smaller range, to $6.56 a foot for a 60-foot or longer boat.
The new rates will be 85 percent of average marina rates from a study that compares the port’s two marinas with 18 other marinas from Neah Bay to Olympia.
Additionally, the rates will be raised according to the September consumer price index each year for 5 years — which is expected to be about 2 percent this year, said Jeff Robb, port executive director.
Moorage rates at John Wayne Marina already are just above the average, the survey indicated.
Only the largest boats, 60-foot and longer, will seea rate increase at John Wayne Marina.
The port’s study showed that Boat Haven has among the lowest rates in the region.
Boat owner William Spring argued at Monday’s commissioners’ meeting that the port used three very high-income, high-demand marinas where millionaires store their yachts and there is a waiting list to get in — comparing apples to oranges, he said.
Boat Haven has a quarter of its slips unoccupied, which will only get worse if prices are increased, he said.
Instead, the port should have used Brownsville Marina, South Park Marina in Seattle and Westport Marina in Grays Harbor County, which are more similar in character to Boat Haven, Spring said.
Even if the port still raised rates, using the more similar marinas would result in a more accurate average, he said.
Port commissioners disagreed, saying that no matter who moors there, the cost of operating a marina is the same.
Commissioners noted that 17 of the 18 ports studied used for comparison for moorage rates required boaters’ liability insurance, with the port named as a beneficiary on policies.
“I’m surprised the port didn’t already require insurance,” said
Commissioners recalled a January boat explosion at John Wayne Marina that damaged several neighboring vessels.
That’s one of the reasons boat owners should be required to have $300,000 in liability insurance, the commissioners said.
Most boat owners probably already have insurance, Hallett pointed out, and there is no extra cost to add the port as a beneficiary.
Boat insurance can be included in a homeowners policy or can be purchased like auto insurance.
Boat owners argued that for those who don’t have insurance, adding that the requirement is like having two increases in one year — which may chase boat owners to other marinas or pull their boats from the water and store them at home.
“Some of us with larger boats have nowhere else to go,” boat owner Bill Atkinson said.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.
