Since August of 2021, the Stewardship Alliance, represented by Chris Carr and Navi Dhillon of the Paul Hastings law firm, has been advocating before the Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) and the Richardson Bay Regional Agency (RBRA) against the installation of a mooring field off Sausalito to transition anchor-outs from the Bay. A Settlement Agreement between BCDC and RBRA required 15-20 moorings to be installed in RBRA’s anchoring zone off Sausalito by December 15, 2022. The Project presented a host of environmental and safety concerns identified by the Sausalito marina and boating community. But the City and its marina operators were excluded from the planning and management of the proposed mooring field.
We are pleased to report that at its July 1, 2022 Special Meeting, the RBRA Board voted to ask BCDC to amend the Settlement Agreement to remove the installation of the mooring field as a mandatory condition. RBRA has cancelled the contract it had approved in February 2022 for the Mooring Field Project, and will use those funds for its vessel buyback program to continue to reduce and eventually eliminate the presence of illegally anchored vessels on Richardson Bay. The Alliance commends RBRA for putting the money saved to support vessel buy-backs and provide other assistance to anchor-outs to secure housing. BCDC’s Enforcement Committee will consider RBRA’s request to amend the Settlement Agreement at its July 14, 2022 meeting.
The Stewardship Alliance will continue to monitor the situation and support responsibly planned and competently managed mooring fields that increase access to the Bay.