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Editorial — Newport Needs New Seasonal Anchorage

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It seems that no matter how good an idea sounds for a community improvement project, there is bound to be at least one resident who vigorously opposes it.            

Attend a few city meetings — in any city — and you’ll start to get the idea that even if a municipality proposed giving $1 million checks to each and every resident, at least a few homeowners would complain that the action could result in more loud parties in their neighborhood, and that a government study hadn’t been done to properly assess all prospective recipients’ budgeting skills.            

In Newport Beach, the Harbor Commission has been seeking community input on a plan to establish a second anchorage inside the harbor. This plan, prompted by the recent move of the harbor’s sole anchorage during dredging operations, would provide much needed temporary anchorage space — for up to 12 boats, from 30 to 40 feet in length — during the harbor’s busiest summer boating months.            

Boaters almost unanimously support the plan. However, some local waterfront homeowners, fearing raucous onboard parties might someday emanate from those anchored boats, have told Harbor Commissioners they don’t like the idea.            

While the onboard parties they fear generally come from large raft-ups, not individual boats at a temporary anchorage, efforts are under way to ensure that boats in a new anchorage would not cause problems for homeowners — such as auxiliary generator noise or navigation issues.            

With any luck at all, these steps will allay homeowners’ fears, and Newport Harbor will get a new seasonal anchorage that is much-needed — for local and visiting boats alike.

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