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South Beach Harbor tenants press Port over parking and proposed berth‑rate increases
Summary
Multiple South Beach Harbor tenants urged the Port to reconsider proposed berth‑rate increases and raised concerns about parking scarcity, parity with other public harbors, and commitments to former tenants; tenants called a roughly 40% proposed rate increase unreasonable and asked staff to re‑examine market surveys.
During public comment on Sept. 11, South Beach Harbor tenants urged the Port Commission to reconsider proposed berth‑rate increases and to address persistent parking shortages.
John DeCastro, a South Beach Harbor tenant, thanked staff for meeting with tenants but said staff had not sufficiently addressed tenant concerns about parking and rate parity. He asked the Port to investigate historical allocations tied to Pier 40 and to pursue greater parity with other public harbors. DeCastro noted tenants face longer walks to boats under proposed parking procedures and asked staff to try to reach the 0.6 parking‑spaces‑per‑slip target previously discussed.
Bill Adams, another South Beach Harbor tenant, said proposed berth payments reflected an increase of about 40% and called that level unreasonable, urging staff to re‑examine the consultant Tattersall’s market‑rate survey and to consider other studies. He also noted that the loss of a possessory interest tax had been used in Port revenue modeling and said tenants are concerned about the fairness of proposed changes.
Port staff acknowledged the tenant comments and earlier meetings, and commissioners said staff should continue to engage tenants and provide additional information. The item was part of the public‑comment period; no formal action was taken that day on South Beach Harbor rate setting.
