Город Мартинез ищет частного партнера для спасения ветшающей марины после критики со стороны жюри

MARTINEZ — Following concerns from the Contra Costa County Civil Grand Jury about deteriorating conditions along Martinez’s marina and the city’s financial inability to address the issue, city officials said they’ve long known about the problem and are actively seeking solutions. Since its construction in the 1960s, a lack of substantial reinvestment into the Martinez Marina has contributed to the decline of the city’s waterfront, according to the city. Safety and operational issues have caused amenities like the bait shop, amphitheater, restaurant and some sections of the docks to close. Officials formalized goals to revitalize the marina, but with base level maintenance already too much for the city’s budget to handle, concerns for the marina’s future became the center of a June report by the Contra Costa County Civil Grand Jury, a body of 19 citizen volunteers who investigate issues of concern in the county. “Martinez has an ambitious vision for the revitalization and redevelopment of its marina and waterfront but lacks financial resources for ongoing repairs and capital investments to the marina and waterfront,” the Civil Grand Jury wrote in its report. City officials were given two months to respond. Councilmembers approved that response letter Wednesday. In the response, the city largely acknowledged that marina infrastructure will need to be fully replaced, and that the endeavor is one the city can’t afford to take on alone. But those findings aren’t news to the city, Mayor Brianne Zorn noted. “(The Civil Grand Jury report) did not show that the city of Martinez was making major missteps. It was simply acknowledging all the things we’d already acknowledged, all the problems we’d already seen coming down the line,” Zorn said. Martinez officials have known about the problems along the marina for years, having commissioned a study of the area in 2023 that found environmental and infrastructure issues that needed to be addressed. Though the Marina Enterprise Fund, supported by revenue from slip licenses and other fees, is meant to keep the marina self-sufficient, the cost of maintenance has outpaced revenue. As a result, nearly $2 million from the general fund has gone toward urgent marina needs over the past five years. Those costs could create a $1.2 million city budget deficit through 2030, according to the city’s long-range forecasts. Recently raised slip fees and a Development Incentive and Community Development Program adopted in 2024 reduced the annual general fund subsidy, but the Marina Enterprise Fund is still expected to operate at a deficit, the city acknowledged in its response letter. That fiscal instability prompted officials to look into a public-private partnership in 2024. Safe Harbor Marinas, the nation’s largest marina owner and operator, expressed an interest in managing the site. But to make a partnership feasible, Safe Harbor told the city greater waterfront activations, like a hotel and other commercial uses, would be necessary. Interested in learning more, Safe Harbor introduced city officials to the company’s partner, Tucker Sadler, a firm based in San Diego. Tucker Sadler produced a conceptual plan in July 2025 and the city entered into an exclusive negotiation agreement with the firm by December 2025. Under the agreement, the city and Tucker Sadler will spend two years developing a project proposal that will include a development agreement, environmental review, securing permitting and determining financial terms. The city has been clear that a future project cannot require city or taxpayer funds. “The City acknowledges the significant challenges and opportunities identified in the report and remains committed to responsibly stewarding the marina and waterfront in alignment with the City’s Strategic Plan, State and Local Law, State Lands Trust requirements, and community expectations,” read the city’s response to the Civil Grand Jury report. The Civil Grand Jury also encouraged the city to consider alternative plans for managing the marina in case the public-private partnership with Tucker Sandler falls through, recommending a plan be developed by next February. If the agreement were to fall through, the city said in its response that finding another private partner would remain “the only viable long-term approach to modernizing the waterfront and reducing reliance on City subsidies.” Without such a partnership, the city may have to consider cutting services or developing a “managed retreat” plan, meaning a process for reducing activities in the area. While the negotiations with Tucker Sandler continue, officials agreed that contingency planning should occur simultaneously. Part of that work will be done in partnership with Contra Costa County, as a new state law requires shoreline jurisdictions to develop a shoreline adaptation plan by 2034. Assistant City Manager Lauren Sugayan said the report “was a surprise,” but noted the city has been studying and discussing the issues along its marina for years. “I want to highlight that we chose as a city to get out there a long time ago and tell the story of the marina,” Sugayan said. “All of that proactive communication, I think, really paid off here, because a lot of the findings really sequentially told the story that we’ve been telling.”