NICE >> While the county holds its cards for an improved real estate market, the already dilapidated Nice Holiday Harbor Resort and Marina sustained another round of damage as 12 feet of its seawall crumpled in early December rains.
First noted on Dec. 6, contractors took steps to secure the wall from further damage, which held up under last week”s heavier rains, and bids to replace it with a steel wall are being considered.
The replacement of the section with steel material will not be the county”s first, and certainly won”t be the last, renovation made to the property; it adds to a long list of attempts to keep up with its deteriorating condition since the county purchased it in 2008 for $2 million from owner Joan Bartz.
With redevelopment funds, the county had ambitious plans to develop the harbor and surrounding land into a town center, which nearly exemplifies a mini-Cannery Row in plans. $36,000 for a master and additional marketing plan, completed in 2012, outlined what appears to be a massive pipe dream for the sleepy town of Nice.
Preparing the site for waterfront lodging and dining, a spa, walkable retail space and a lakefront promenade, the plan sets the stage for high expectations. The first phase, as designated by the plan, would have been the destination hotel, spa and restaurant development, while harbor upgrades, such as repairing the seawall and docks, come secondary.
The plan lays out two options, with projected costs of either $2.7 million or $3.1 million, for establishing the primary infrastructure alone. Town hall meetings were also held to receive the public”s comment on those plans.
Administrator Matt Perry explained the county intended to maintain ownership of the surrounding land while working in conjunction with a developer to improve and eventually sell the harbor. But with the recession coming at its heels, the county made little headway on its proposed capitol improvements to the area.
An RV park lining the westside of the harbor was removed, a few benches were installed and a fence was run around its perimeter, but little else was done. The worsening state of the economy, the state”s dissolution of redevelopment agencies in 2011 and a lack of public interest in the proposed changes left the harbor rotting in dead water.
For a while now, a sign welcoming an investor to partner with the county has advertised the poorly maintained rows of docks. Perry vaguely recalls a request for proposal (RFP) being solicited early on in 2008 or 2009, but otherwise the harbor hasn”t seen an offer.
“Someone wanted to partner in operating the marina and it wasn”t too advantageous for the county,” Perry said. “But in terms of an actual purchase offer, we haven”t gotten anything.”
A November windstorm in 2013 didn”t help its appeal either as about 80 of the harbor”s 134 boat slips were wrecked. County Deputy Administrative Officer Alan Flora estimated replacement of the docks would cost nearly $600,000, which has not been undertaken.
Finally, the drought”s impacts reached the inlet and the passage into Clear Lake, which was last dredged in the summer of 2013, became too shallow to allow boaters through. Since October, the harbor has been shut down, although that may soon change with the rising water levels.
The harbor”s official listing on the market may be just around the corner too.
“The plan right now, because we”ve seen some (economic) recovery and talked with some folks in the industry over the last six to eight months, is to start trying in the spring to get someone to market and sell at least a large portion of it,” Flora said.
Perry expects he”ll present a recommendation to the Board of Supervisors in favor of beginning to aggressively market the harbor in February.
The 2014-15 county budget slotted $55,000 for improvements to Holiday Harbor at the request of District 3 Supervisor Denise Rushing and with the aim of increasing the property”s “curb appeal.” But Perry believes the county will be using that money to make the new repairs to the seawall.
“It seems like every year there”s a windstorm or something else that causes us to redirect that money toward something urgent and more necessary,” he said.
The county has spent a rough total of $330,000 on repairing and improving the property since purchasing it in 2008.
