Pacific Northwest Marine Group
The Pacific Northwest Marine Group ( PNMG ) is a company with offices in Sidney, BC. Their website states that PNMG is “linked” to The Marker Group and Marinaco Holdings ULC, owned by COM Investments, a firm owned by Seattle businessman and entrepreneur Craig McCaw.
PNMG Nanaimo marina lease proposal
http://www.pacificnorthwestmarinagroup.ca/
Reasons why the Nanaimo marina lease proposal needs re-evaluation
D.Hay
A proposal to revitalize the downtown Nanaimo marina has been accepted by the Nanaimo Port Authority (NPA) and a final contract is scheduled to be signed in early 2013. The redevelopment would be done by the Pacific Northwest Marine Group (PNMG). PNMG is a company with offices in Sidney, BC. Their website states that PNMG is “linked to Marinaco Holdings ULC, owned by COM Investments, a firm owned by Seattle businessman and entrepreneur Craig McCaw.”
PNMG plans to spend nine million dollars to upgrade the downtown marina in return for a 30-year lease on property owned by the Nanaimo Port Authority (NPA), an agency that administers business on publically-owned harbour property. The legal and ethical legitimacy of this transaction, involving publically-owned property, is debatable. Indeed, perhaps this will be debated in the courts. There are, however, more immediate implications that have not received much attention in the media.
What will the re-development do? The total length of docking space would increase slightly (presently about 9,000 linear feet) and reconfigured, mainly by the use of ‘fingers’. The new fingers would accommodate proportionately more, larger vessels, especially pleasure vessels, but not necessarily fishing boats. For loading and unloading, commercial fishing boats often need sturdier docking platforms than the smaller ‘fingers’ so there will be a loss of current functionality for fishers. The proposed marina design on the PNMG website shows about 7500 linear feet of finger space in the new arrangement. PNMG advises that about 31 percent of the fingers will be dedicated to smaller vessels (20 feet or less). What PNMG does not point out is that this will be only about 16 percent of the ‘linear’ dock space. Nor does PNMG reveal that the small fingers will occupy less than 10 percent of the total aerial space of the lease area. Over 90% of the marina space is designed to accommodate vessels of 35 feet and greater (probably about 120 boats). Further about 75 % of the space is for vessels of 50 feet or greater for about 78-80 boats (or ‘yachts’). For boats smaller than 20 feet (which most are) the moorage rate will be the same as a 20 foot boat. Presently (January 2013) the NPA charges moorage according to the length of the boat – with rates that are slightly higher than those in other Nanaimo Marinas.
Who will gain from this? Clearly people (about 80 of them) who want to moor their large yachts in an upscale marina in downtown Nanaimo. Also, the developer will gain 30-year access to a lucrative secure market. Long-term moorage space can be rented to people from anywhere, probably shutting out locals who have relied on the marina (the only public marina in Nanaimo) for over 70 years. So, it will be well-heeled boaters, perhaps many from Vancouver, Seattle or elsewhere who will gain.
Who will lose? For a start, some Snuneymuxw First Nation (SFN) fishers will be effectively shut out of the marina by the increased moorage rates but the loss is much more serious and profound. There has been an obvious lack of sincere consultation with the SFN community that has used the harbour for millennia. What would be lost (or further damaged) is an atmosphere of respect and cooperation between the SFN and others in Nanaimo, especially the NPA.
Commercial fishermen from Nanaimo who use the marina for moorage will lose. They, and fishermen from other areas, have long used the Nanaimo marina for offloading catches and loading gear – using a crane (worth hundreds of thousands) acquired using funds originating outside of the NPA. This crane has been used to support fisheries for salmon, herring, halibut, groundfish, tuna, crabs, prawns, shrimp, and geoducks. The crane, and its function will be gone – and not replaced in the new marina or anywhere else. This is one example of how further economic opportunities for many of the 150-200 Nanaimo families who make their living from commercial fishing or fish processing (www.bcstats.gov.bc.ca) will be lost. This is not an exaggeration and it is not trivial – the present facility supports millions of dollars of fishing activity. The BC Seafood Alliance has objected strenuously to the NPA, pointing out the substantial economic cost to the BC fishing industry.
Another loser group will be people from Protection and Mudge Islands. Some have used the marina for decades as moorage but many others use it as a short-term access point for their boats while patronizing downtown stores. These people include business owners, tradesmen and professionals. The ‘dinghy’ access promised by PNMG is not adequate for short-term access – and it is even a dangerous offer – dinghies are not safe vessels to move to and from these islands. These people are not asking for a lot. Presently they do not use very much of the downtown marina, and they are not looking for subsidized moorage.
Still another group that could lose are downtown merchants. Protection Island commuters funnel most of their spending into the downtown area, but geographic spending patterns will change. Based on surveys of Protection Island residents, this involves about $3 million dollars of islander spending annually.
Finally the loss will be felt by all of Nanaimo. Nanaimo will loose a busy, colourful, multipurpose marina that will be replaced by a forest of sailboat masts (Sceptical? Check out the artist conception on the PNMG website). Nanaimo will loose financially through the loss of spending to the downtown area and the loss of income related to impacts of commercial fishers.
Much of the revenue from the moorage will not stay in Nanaimo. How much is that? It is hard to say but if there is 9000 ft of linear moorage (the fingers plus the existing, outside pier that will not change but still be part of the lease), and if the marina rates match those of private companies in Newcastle Channel (at about $9.00 per foot per month) then this will be about $80,000 per month. This does not include rental rates for the floating business or other marina services. In short there would be revenues exceeding $80,000 per month, perhaps a million per year – payable to a company that is not in Nanaimo. This money would drain from Nanaimo and represents another loss. In contrast, with the present marina, the moorage revenues would stay in Nanaimo.
The figures and estimates above do not represent a formal ‘economic impact’ analysis but they provide cause for concern that the proposed marina redevelopment could be a local boondoggle equivalent to buying the Brooklyn Bridge. The bottom line is that ‘there is no bottom line’. If this project is worth doing then it is worth conducting a credible economic impact analysis. At present, nobody knows how much this transaction will cost but it is clear that many in Nanaimo will lose. This is more than adequate reason to avoid rushing blindly into this questionable deal. A non-Nanaimo firm will gain. Perhaps 80 well-off yacht owners will gain. Many hundreds of local Nanaimo people will lose. The city will lose.
Nine benefits for Nanaimo? A critical review of PNMG claims
The bold text below is from the PNMG website
http://www.pacificnorthwestmarinagroup.ca/about-project/positive-benefits-residents
This site provides a bullet list of suggested benefits to Nanaimo from a revitalized downtown Marina.
A flagship gathering spot for locals
The ‘locals’ already gather along the existing waterfront plaza. The much narrower docks may continue to be accessible to locals (although this will be at the discretion of the new managers). The new ‘refurbished’ docks are not a sensible ‘gathering spot’. Instead, it is the existing facilities that provide the ‘gathering spots’.
The NPA website indicates that “the waterfront walkway – seawall provides over 4 kilometres of paved and stone walking area highlighting the inner harbour and marina.” Clearly the adjacent seawall is, and will remain, the ‘gathering spot’.
Improved waterfront aesthetics and access
‘Improved’ for whom? The PNMG depictions of the proposed installations do not compare favourably with photographs of the existing facilities. The present downtown marina, with a mixture of many different types and sizes of vessels is much more interesting and colourful than the sterile images presented on the PNMG website.
Beautiful public walkways and observation points
‘Beautiful public walkways’ must refer to the walkways on the ‘refurbished’ concrete wharfs! There will be no improved ‘observation’ points from a wharf. The aluminum ramps from the plaza will move be moved, not replaced.
Waterfront restaurants and coffee shops
These already exist. There is no announced plan for more floating restaurants or shops. If there were then this would reduce boat space. Also, present restaurant operators only have assurance of 2 more years of access – so their business plans are on hold.
A venue for seasonal events
There already are several popular seasonal events (NPA Boat Show, Dragon Boat Festival, Marine Festival, Nanaimo Blues Festival) but it is only the boat show that utilizes the docks – and during that time the public loses access to the docks unless they pay.
Increased size of waterfront walkway (with the addition of a secondary walkway on the water)
This is disputable – especially if the size is measured in ‘area’ rather than cumulative linear distance of the docks. The small fingers between vessels do not functionally contribute to an increase in ‘size’. The PNMG is not clear about how much of the new marina will be accessible to the public, especially in future years of the 30-year tenure, ending in 2043.
However a rough estimation shows that the total linear space of accessible walkways on new docks would be about the same as the present – specifically about 3500 feet – and this is how the Boat Show organizers describe the present space: “3500 feet of dock space in this dynamic downtown harbour setting”. (http://www.vancouverislandboatshow.com/index.html)
Access for persons with disabilities
The ramps from the plaza will be the same. The only real change will be the surface of the docks, from wood to the refurbished concrete.
Increased tourism revenues for local businesses
There is no evidence for this and there may even be evidence to the contrary. If a significant part of the marina is leased to out-of-city yacht owners (from Vancouver, Seattle, etc) then the tourist capacity of the marina could decrease. This is speculation – but it seems probable based on the information provided to date. What seems more certain is that much of the revenue from moorage will not be staying in Nanaimo. It will go to the PNMG group, with BC headquarters in Sidney and owners in Seattle.
Direct and indirect employment for locals
There has been no analysis presented anywhere that supports any claim for an increase in local employment. Based on recent analysis on impacts to commercial fishers and Protection Island commuters, there will be a significant economic loss to these groups and this would be reflected in reduced local employment.
Twenty-six benefits for boaters? Grossly exaggerated PNMG claims
The PNMG website promises to turn the downtown marina into a ‘hotel-like experience’. PNMG presents a list of 26 suggested benefits of the re-developed marina to boaters. The website does not advise that at least nineteen of these ‘benefits’ are already in place. The reference to ‘ease of ingress and egress’ is puzzling. Present access to the all parts of the marina (ingress) is not restricted.
Save Our Harbour 