Anchored boats float in Richardson Bay off Sausalito, Calif., on Thursday, July 11, 2019. (Alan Dep/Marin Independent Journal)

By Krissy Waite | kwaite@marinij.com

UPDATED: September 15, 2024 at 3:51 p.m.

The Richardson Bay Regional Agency has reached a key point in its effort to get illegally anchored vessels out of the waterway.

The agency removed the last illegal floating home off Waldo Point, a condition in its agreement with the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission. More than 30 vessels remain on the bay, with just over two years to remove them.

“We have no more floating homes,” said Jim Malcolm, the harbormaster, who called the outcome “a pleasant reminder of great work accomplished from everyone.”

The agency shared the news as part of a routine update during the commission’s enforcement committee meeting on Aug. 28. Marie Gilmore, chair of the committee, congratulated the local agency on its work.

“I guess it’s slow and steady wins the race,” said Gilmore. “Of course we’re always looking for a little bit faster, but we understand the challenges with dealing with, you know, occupied vessels as opposed to derelict, unoccupied vessels.”

The agreement between the agencies highlighted four specific floating homes illegally anchored off Waldo Point. Brad Gross, the executive director of the agency, said legal floating homes in Waldo Point Harbor have permits and are required to have utilities.

“I don’t want anybody to get the impression that we’re taking all the floating homes out of Waldo Point,” Gross said.

For decades, many people have lived in the anchorage on their boats, despite a law prohibiting boats from anchoring there for more than 72 hours. In 2016, there were 240 such boaters, known as “anchor-outs.”

In 2021, the agency reached a settlement with the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission, agreeing that illegally anchored vessels would be removed by October 2026. The agreement came after threats of enforcement by the commission.

As of August, the agency had purchased 11 boats and one floating home from anchor-outs through its boat buyback program, which gives vessel owners $150 per linear foot if they surrender it. So far, the agency has distributed $162,800, said Gross. To date, the agency has disposed of 33 boats and floating homes.

Gross said the agency has made a lot of progress on removing all 15 of the vessels that arrived after 2019. Nine vessels have been removed and 14 people housed, and all but one person is working with the agency. This group of vessels have to be either out of the anchorage or actively participating in the agency’s temporary housing program by next month.

“That gives us about seven more weeks to get that last holdout engaged,” said Gross.

Malcolm said there were more than 150 vessels on the bay when he started in early 2021, compared to 31 boats now. He said that number should decrease as boaters enroll in the agency’s temporary housing program.

“That 31 represents both vessels engaged in housing, people on a path to housing, as well as vessels that are involved in active enforcement,” Malcolm said.

Malcolm said the agency has reached several milestones in its agreement with the regional authority. Originally, the agency agreed to have all vessels that arrived after 2019 removed from the anchorage by October 2023, but extensions were granted. Three vessels remain, with two of the owners on a path to housing via the agency’s housing program. He said the owners of the vessels are planning to surrender their boats to the agency once they find housing.

“It usually runs anywhere from two weeks to a month before the vessel is actually removed,” said Malcolm.

Gross said the success of the temporary housing program has ramped up in recent months, especially as more people become able to secure longer-term housing after participating in the agency’s program.

To date, 14 people have been housed, 20 are participating in the program, six are waiting in the queue, 17 vouchers have been issued and two vouchers are pending approval. Gross said the program is an example of how partnerships like the one between the agency and the commission can result in positive change.

“It’s resulting in some constant and noticeable success,” said Gross. “This agreement between RBRA and BCDC may be unique, I’m not sure, but definitely, some of the programs based on this agreement certainly are and they are working.”

Additionally, the agency is gearing up to relocate or remove any vessels still in the eelgrass protection zone. Eelgrass beds reduce coastal erosion and promote healthy marine ecosystems, and the zone is a designated area for environmental conservation.

Malcolm said there are 29 vessels left in the eelgrass protection zone, down from 42 in August 2023. Malcolm said vessel owners have until next month to relocate out of the zone into the new, smaller authorized anchorage.

Five signs will be placed on piles and three buoys will be placed to mark the authorized area, Malcolm said. Citations will be steeper for remaining in the eelgrass protection zone, and the time frame between a citation, an appeal and a nuisance abatement hearing will be shortened from 30 days to about 10 days.

“Anybody who either will not, does not — or just absolutely ‘heck no, we won’t go’ — will fall into the enforcement side of our operation with the citations ramping up to eventually nuisance abatement,” Malcolm said. “It’s going to be a slightly steeper enforcement slope for folks that don’t want to move out of the eelgrass protection zone.”

Gross said he is confident the agency will reach its goal of operating solely as a transient anchorage — which means vessels can’t stay longer than 72 hours.

“It may be a little slower than we first imagined when we started, but we’re working with a unique and willful population,” Gross said. “The consistent and methodical approach we’ve been taking to these solutions are working.”

Originally Published: September 13, 2024 at 1:51 p.m.