MARINA DEY REY, Calif. - The floating homes in Marina Del Rey are the envy of many.
Eighty-seven-year-old Luz Bernal gave us a tour of her two-story floating home, which she bought in 2002 after her husband died.
“This is the master bedroom, this is where I sleep,” said Bernal.
There are more than 3,700 vessels in the marina, eight percent of those are live-aboards like Bernal. She loves living on the water, but she’s on a fixed income and in the last 17 years, her slip fee, along with everything else, has gone up.
“When I first came here it was $600 and now it went up to $1,583 plus utilities,” said Bernal.
That, along with a recent knee surgery have prompted her to look into selling the floating home for something that better fits her budget and health needs.
She reads off a prepared statement she gave to a Beaches and Harbor official:
“It never occurred to me that I did not have the freedom to sell my property and have it remain in the same location in Marina Del Rey under the Seaworthy Ordinance.”
But even though she didn’t know, that ordinance still applies; to her and to Captain Darrell Staffey, whose life savings are also tied up in a floating home.
“I bought mine in 1996, which was a year after the seaworthy ordinance, but I never knew an ordinance existed,” said Staffey.
The seaworthy ordinance, passed in 1995 by the L.A. County of Supervisors, prohibited any new floating homes being allowed in the marina on the grounds that they can’t navigate away from danger. There was a 10-year grace period for existing floating homes.
After 2005, if a floating home was sold it had to be moved out of the marina.
But moving a floating home is extremely complex. Towing it to sea would be dangerous as it could get crushed by ocean waves, and getting a truck to drive it to a different Marina is cumbersome and costly. Which turns off most buyers.
“This restriction effectively means that I cannot sell my floating home and therefore, have no equity as the value has been essentially reduced to zero, thus losing most of my life’s savings,” said Bernal.
L.A. County Department of Beaches and Harbors points out that the ordinance was passed for the public’s safety and a 10-year grace period was given to floating home owners. In addition, they sent us a statement which reads in part:
“Many liveaboards have voiced their concerns about the surcharge rate at meetings of the Los Angeles County Small Craft Harbor Commission. At the Commission’s request, the Department of Beaches and Harbors has commissioned an appraisal to determine whether the liveaboard surcharge rates are at market level. The Department will report back to the Commission upon completion of the appraisal.”
But until this changes the rising slip fees and inability to access equity or sell their homes, means they’ll slowly keep treading water, until the day when they’ll no longer be able to afford the fees. When that day comes, they’ll have to abandon these homes, and have them crushed.
“I’ll be homeless,” said Bernal.
But until then, she and Staffey will remain…. imprisoned on their beautiful floating homes in the marina.”