City of Newport Beach begins broader review of residential pier and mooring programs following California State Lands Commission findings.
NEWPORT BEACH — Questions over how Newport Beach values and manages residential piers and private moorings within Newport Harbor are moving into a new phase as city officials prepare for a series of public meetings addressing a California State Lands Commission (SLC) review of the harbor’s public trust tidelands.
Fair Harbor Access, a volunteer advocacy group focused on equitable and affordable coastal access, has called for closer scrutiny of differences between the city’s residential pier and mooring programs. The group contends that the two uses of public waters have historically been subject to different rates, regulations and valuation methodologies and has questioned whether the system has resulted in foregone public trust revenue.
The City of Newport Beach, meanwhile, says the various uses of tidelands have distinct characteristics that have historically been taken into account when determining fair market rent. City officials also acknowledge that the State Lands Commission has questioned whether some of the disparities are justified and say the programs are now undergoing a comprehensive review.
According to Georgia Rios, public information manager for the City of Newport Beach, the city manages approximately 1,000 public moorings and 1,200 residential piers within Newport Harbor as trustee for the State of California under the Beacon Bay Bill.
The tidelands within Newport Harbor were granted to the city by the California Legislature in 1919. Newport Beach therefore does not manage the property solely as municipal real estate. It holds the lands in trust for the benefit of Californians and must administer them in accordance with the public trust doctrine, the California Constitution and the statutes governing the grant.
Rios said that legal framework also requires the city to charge fair market rent for private use of public trust tidelands under the California Constitution, Beacon Bay Bill, Newport Beach Municipal Code and City Council Policy F-7.
The California State Lands Commission has spent several years examining the city’s management of those lands. SLC staff presented a draft report at a public commission meeting Aug. 21, 2025, followed by a public review and comment period from September through December.
On Dec. 16, 2025, the commission directed staff to transmit the final report to Newport Beach. The report was formally provided to the City Council Jan. 6, 2026.
Among the issues examined were residential pier lease rates, mooring permit rates, the relationship between the two, mooring permit transfers, and Newport Beach’s mooring license program.
The review also raised questions about whether the disparity between residential pier and mooring charges adequately reflects fair market value.
Fair Harbor Access has argued that residential pier users and mooring permittees are occupying public trust waters for comparable private recreational purposes but are treated differently. Among the group’s concerns is that residential pier permittees aren’t separately charged for the water occupied by vessels berthed alongside their docks, while mooring rates have been determined through different valuation methods.
The State Lands Commission similarly identified a notable disparity.
According to information provided by the city, the SLC observed “a significant disparity between the City’s residential pier rates and mooring rates” and recommended that Newport Beach reassess its residential pier rates to determine whether they reflect fair market value.
Rios said those differences do not necessarily mean the uses are identical for appraisal purposes.
Different tideland uses have characteristics that affect their value, she said. Commercial tideland rates, for example, can be tied to the use and value of adjacent privately owned, commercially zoned upland property. Residential pier rates account for the limited, noncommercial use of tidelands accessed through adjoining residential property.
Onshore moorings, by comparison, occupy public beach areas and are not tied to the value of an upland parcel. Those rates have instead been compared with other vessel-storage options in and around Newport Harbor.
Still, Rios said the city recognizes the questions raised by the state and will review the various tideland uses and associated rents over the coming months.
The differences become more apparent when the two programs are examined on a per-square-foot basis.
Residential pier rental rates were established using two independent appraisals completed in 2012. Those appraisals valued the tidelands at approximately 50 to 55 cents per square foot annually.
The amount charged to a residential pier permittee is calculated using the square footage of the dock structure and usable water area, excluding the interior area of U-shaped slips. Residential pier permittees are not separately assessed rent for the water occupied by boats berthed at their docks.
Mooring rates have been calculated differently.
According to Rios, appraisers have evaluated moorings through multiple methodologies, including a Tidelands Market Rent Analysis using the State Lands Commission’s methodology, a Comparable Rentals Approach, a Ratio Analysis comparing mooring rates with marina slip rents and a Consumer Price Index adjustment approach.
A 2023 appraisal recommended setting mooring rates at 30% of the Newport Harbor Marina Index, while the Harbor Commission recommended 24%.
The SLC’s analysis found that, when converted to a comparable square-foot basis, a 40-foot Newport Harbor mooring pays approximately $1.36 per square foot annually. Residential piers pay approximately 58 cents per square foot, according to the report, and pier permittees are not charged separately for water occupied by their vessels.
How Newport Beach should address that difference will now be part of the city’s review.
The City Council established a Public Lands Trust Management Ad Hoc Committee Feb. 10 consisting of Mayor Pro Tem Noah Blom and Council Member Joe Stapleton. The committee was formed to review the State Lands Commission report and develop a path toward addressing its findings.
At the committee’s direction, the Harbor Commission is expected to undertake a broader review of rates and program requirements applying to Newport Harbor’s various user groups.
Rios said the commission’s work is expected to address five primary areas: the SLC report and the city’s current management of public trust lands; rates and fees charged for use of those lands; transferability of mooring permits; fairness, equity and public benefit associated with access to public trust resources; and methods for securing meaningful participation from residents, harbor users and other stakeholders.
The city submitted a compliance plan to the State Lands Commission June 25.
The next major step is scheduled for Sept. 9, when the Harbor Commission is expected to receive a study-session presentation outlining the SLC report and what happens next.
“The Harbor Commission will begin holding public hearings starting at its September 9 meeting,” Rios said. “City staff will provide the Harbor Commission and the public with a brief overview of the SLC Report.”
The city previously held a stakeholder meeting May 27 at the Oasis Center in Newport Beach, where both Newport Beach and State Lands Commission staff answered questions about the report.
Additional public meetings are expected as the review proceeds.
The debate over rates intersects with another complicated issue: what rights pier and mooring permit holders have to rent, sublease or transfer use of public tidelands.
Under current mooring rules, permittees may not rent, lease or assign a mooring to another person without written permission from the harbormaster under Newport Beach Municipal Code Section 17.25.020L.
When a permitted mooring is temporarily unoccupied, however, the city can assign it to another vessel through a mooring sub-permit under Section 17.60.040G.
The Harbor Department processes approximately 1,600 of those mooring sub-permit agreements annually.
Private transfers of mooring permits also are permitted, subject to a transfer fee and other compliance requirements.
In 2025, 80 mooring permits were transferred privately, with reported transfer prices totaling $1,357,700.
The transfer market has become one of the State Lands Commission’s areas of concern.
According to the city, more than 800 mooring permits were transferred between 2017 and 2026, with total reported transfer prices exceeding $16.3 million. The SLC has questioned whether that system effectively allows private parties to sell an interest associated with publicly owned tidelands.
The transfer issue previously surfaced in the city’s attempt to revise the mooring program.
In July 2024, the City Council considered both a Harbor Commission recommendation and an alternative staff proposal concerning mooring rates.
The council ultimately adopted the staff alternative, which would have grandfathered existing permittees at their then-current rates, subject to increases equal to the lesser of CPI or 2%. It also would have allowed one private transfer within four years and established that new users would receive city licenses based on then-current short-term mooring license rates.
The State Lands Commission subsequently asked Newport Beach not to implement those changes while the state reviewed the city’s broader management of Newport Harbor.
That review ultimately resulted in the report now under consideration.
Residential pier rules differ.
Newport Beach amended its Municipal Code during a special meeting Dec. 11, 2012, to allow residential pier permittees to rent space at their piers. When they do so, they are required to notify the city and pay the applicable small commercial rental rate, currently $1.03 per square foot.
Residential pier permits also may be transferred indefinitely under City Council policy, but only in connection with the sale of the adjacent upland property. The permit can only be held by the entity that owns title to that property.
Those distinctions between the pier and mooring programs are among the issues the Harbor Commission is expected to examine.
Oversight of both programs falls largely within Newport Beach’s Harbor Department.
Led by the harbormaster, the department manages the city’s mooring fields and is also responsible for municipal code enforcement, event permitting, safety and rescue operations, the Marina Park Guest Marina, marine sanitation pump-out equipment, public pier maintenance and the impoundment and disposition of abandoned vessels.
For moorings, city personnel conduct harbor patrols, inspect vessel conditions, require proof of insurance and registration, conduct dye-tab tests and enforce navigational-lighting requirements. Live-aboard permittees must undergo annual vessel inspections.
In addition to approximately 1,600 mooring sub-permit agreements each year, the department processes roughly 1,200 Marina Park slip agreements, about 100 mooring permit transfer applications, 51 live-aboard permits and 17 mooring license agreements.
For residential piers, permittees who sublease space are required to report that use to the city and pay commercial rates.
The city is also continuing to analyze whether existing fees reflect fair market value.
Rios said Newport Beach has commissioned multiple appraisals over the years and currently has additional appraisals underway involving yacht clubs, residential piers and both onshore and offshore moorings.
The broader challenge, according to the city, involves balancing several obligations at the same time.
Rios said Newport Beach’s fiduciary role as trustee of the tidelands requires the city to consider fair market rent and equitable treatment while also maintaining affordable public access and satisfying requirements imposed by multiple state agencies.
City officials also point to the public services supported through Newport Beach’s management of the harbor.
Beyond approximately 1,000 public moorings and 1,200 residential piers, the city oversees more than 65 commercial marinas and provides harbor amenities and services including pump-out stations, water-quality monitoring, code enforcement and derelict-vessel removal.
Newport Beach also constructs and maintains 14 public docks around the harbor to improve access for boaters.
Fair Harbor Access, however, maintains that the State Lands Commission review provides an opportunity to determine whether public trust resources have historically been valued and administered equitably and whether appropriate revenue has been collected from private uses.
The group has called for further examination of public records, financial information and state findings regarding the treatment of moorings and residential piers.
The city says those questions will now be considered as part of the public review process rather than through an immediate change in policy.
“Different tideland uses have distinct characteristics that affect values and appraisals,” Rios said, adding that those distinctions must be considered when determining fair market rent.
At the same time, she acknowledged that the State Lands Commission has specifically questioned the disparity between mooring and residential pier rates.
The Harbor Commission will therefore evaluate rates and fees, mooring transferability and the broader fairness and equity of public access before forwarding recommendations to the City Council.
Any anticipated policy changes remain under development.
According to Rios, there will be an extensive review involving multiple public hearings where community members and harbor stakeholders can offer ideas about how Newport Beach should respond to the SLC findings.
The process also will require the city to address concerns raised by the state regarding potential conflicts with the terms of Newport Beach’s tidelands grant and the California Constitution.
Rather than disputing those findings through a final policy position at this stage, the city has established the ad hoc committee and Harbor Commission review process to develop recommendations it believes will satisfy its legal and fiscal responsibilities.
Those recommendations ultimately will go before the City Council for consideration and implementation and will also factor into the city’s ongoing compliance work with the State Lands Commission.
Rios said Newport Beach considers meaningful public participation an important part of that process.
“The City takes its fiduciary obligations seriously, and we encourage harbor users and other stakeholders to participate in the review process,” she said.
For Newport Harbor boaters, the coming months could therefore prove consequential.
The review potentially affects not only what residential pier and mooring users pay, but how mooring transfers are handled, how private access to public trust waters is valued and how the city balances revenue obligations with affordability and public access.
The city has not yet adopted final changes in response to the state report.
Instead, the Sept. 9 Harbor Commission meeting will begin the next stage of a process expected to include additional hearings, stakeholder input, updated appraisals and recommendations to the City Council.
Those interested in reviewing the State Lands Commission report or following the city’s response can visit NewportBeachCA.gov/Trending/Newport-Harbor. Questions regarding the review process can be directed to Deputy Harbormaster Matt Cosylion at [email protected].
