LAKEPORT, Calif. – On Tuesday the Board of Supervisors reached consensus to give the County Administrative Office the go ahead to place the Holiday Harbor marina property in Nice on the market.
County Administrative Officer Matt Perry proposed the action to the board, citing the recovering economy and real estate market.
The county's former redevelopment agency purchased the harbor, located at 3605 and 3655 Lakeshore Blvd., in 2008 in order to spur economic activity in the area.
Perry told the board Tuesday that the property – which is made up of several parcels – was acquired for a total of about $2 million.
According to Perry's report to the board, the redevelopment agency had attempted to sell the property previously, but those efforts stopped due to the recession and the agency's dissolution in February 2012.
The county has continued to operate the property as a marina and to make improvements to it. However, in November 2013 a windstorm caused extensive damage to the harbor's docks.
Perry told Lake County News that the county didn't replace the docks damaged in the windstorm, but did cleanup work and replaced the chain link fence.
He said the county also is proceeding with replacing a portion of the seawall – located behind the property's commercial building – that failed in the December 2014 rainstorm.
“We decided this was important to do to prevent further erosion,” he said, adding that he hopes to have that repair project out to bid soon.
With the economy beginning to recover, Perry told the board that county staff believes it's time to put the harbor up for sale.
The county has contracted with a Realtor to help market the property, with those efforts including building a dedicated Web site, he said.
However, Perry said issues have arisen that led him to want to talk to the board.
Initially, the plan was to retain a beach area near the property in public ownership. However, he wanted the board to decide if that property should remain publicly owned or be offered for sale as part of the larger Holiday Harbor land in order to make it more attractive to potential buyers.
“My personal feeling is, we should try to make it as marketable as possible,” said Perry, adding the Realtor said the lakefront parcels will help.
He said it's a popular fishing spot for the public.
Originally, the county had wanted to see the lakefront parcels developed as a hotel, but with the redevelopment agency gone, the county no longer had the resources to help assist with such a plan, Perry said.
Perry said he felt the county should put the property up for sale and allow the private sector to decide what is viable, while placing some restrictions on the use permit.
Supervisor Jeff Smith suggested that if an interested buyer came along, a small area for public access could be carved out of the beach area. Perry agreed that an easement for public access could be offered.
Perry also reported that there were some issues necessary to address on the property, specifically, that a roadway on the land was never officially abandoned, and that there could be legal restrictions for public access.
“There's a lot of issues we're just discovering now that need to be cleaned up,” he said.
Supervisor Jim Steele suggested a town hall meeting to get feedback from community members, but also voiced his support for putting a good portion of the entire property up for sale if that's what it takes to find a buyer.
Supervisor Jim Comstock said the county needed to sell the property and get it back on the tax roll.
No public comment was offered during the discussion.
Smith said he didn't think the county should close the door on any possible uses for the land, including an RV park, noting that there are many high-end RVs on the roads looking for good parks to visit. He said having a nice facility could lure RVs off of Interstate 5 and over to Lake County for a stay.
Steele pointed out that the new owner of the Aurora RV Marina and Park Park – located in Nice, just down the road from Holiday Harbor – also is targeting that high-end RV customer base.
Perry said a Realtor has shown the property to someone interested in developing it into a high-end RV park. He's talked both to Community Development Director Rick Coel and County Counsel Anita Grant about that potential use, as the county doesn't want to see it turned into year-round housing.
Coel told the board that to prevent the property from becoming long-term housing, they would need to compel the California Department of Housing and Community Development – which permits RV parks – to enforce its rules.
On the county's side, Coel said they would be very clear in the permit conditions and in communications with the state that it was to remain an RV park, not a special occupancy park where people live year-round.
The board – minus Supervisor Rob Brown, who was absent for the discussion – reached consensus to give Perry permission to explore selling all of the parcels and to move forward with taking care of the roadway abandonment issue.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
How to resolve AdBlock issue? 
