Newport Shipwright Ordered to Move Backyard Boat

Byline: Taylor Hill NEWPORT BEACH — After more than five years working to restore a 1916-built ketch named Shawnee, shipwright Dennis Holland has been ordered to remove the vessel from his yard at his Newport Beach home. The preliminary injunction was issued by Orange County Superior Court Judge Gregory Munoz March 1. It gives Holland until April 30 to remove the 72-foot wooden boat from his property — or face fines of up to $1,000 per day and possible jail time. The ruling marks just the latest turn in an ongoing battle between the city of Newport Beach and Holland regarding the 96-year-old wooden vessel. Since its 2006 arrival in Holland’s side yard on Holiday Road, the boat has been seen by some as a nostalgic reminder of Newport Beach’s long boatbuilding heritage, and by others as a nuisance and an eyesore they say does not belong in a residential neighborhood. While the city initially permitted the boatbuilding project, the Newport Beach City Council changed the city’s municipal code in 2009 to impose time constraints on long-term large construction projects, maintenance projects and “the parking or storage of certain vehicles and watercraft in residential districts.” Holland and others have charged that the city council passed...