BDN 2/26/21 "A national marina company is investing in Rockland Harbor as a tourist destination"
by Lauren Abbate
ROCKLAND, Maine — A company that owns more than 100 marinas across the country has purchased a locally-owned marina on Rockland Harbor to stake out the city’s growing reputation as a boating destination, according to industry experts.
Rockland-based Yachting Solutions — a multifaceted boating and marine services company — has been sold to Safe Harbor Marinas, of Dallas, Texas. The deal includes the company’s boatyard property and 5 acres of Rockland waterfront. The sale price was undisclosed. Yachting Solutions has leased for about a decade to operate its marina.
Given that the city has grown into a tourism hotspot over the last 20 years, folks in the marine and tourism industries say this investment from a national company further signals that Rockland’s reputation as a destination is growing.
“The reality of the fact that someone is willing to make that kind of an investment just shows that they believe in the area,” Greg Dugal, HospitalityMaine Government Affairs Officer, said. “It’s a tremendous place to make an investment.”
The Rockland purchase is Safe Harbor’s second in Maine. Last year, the company purchased Great Island Marina in Harpswell. The company operates about 110 marinas across the country, according to its website, the bulk of which are on the east coast.
Yachting Solutions’ employees have retained their jobs through the sale, according to Yachting Solutions owner Bill Morong. The company’s name will be changing to Safe Harbor Rockland.
The sale to Safe Harbors doesn’t come with any “big changes or a big master plan” that stray from what Yachting Solutions has already been pursuing, Morong said, which includes expansion plans that have been in the works for several years.
The expansion project, which would triple the dockage capacity at the marina, is still in the request for proposals phase, according to Morong.
However, becoming a part of a larger cooperation will help propel expansion plans. If all permits are granted, Morong hopes construction will begin next winter.
“There is a tremendous amount of benefits to joining a group of this size as compared to being out there on your own,” Morong said. “[Safe Harbors] brings a tremendous amount of horsepower to all the expansion projects and things that we want to do with the business.”
Most of Maine’s oceanfront marina’s are locally-owned, according to Maine Marine Trades Association Executive Director Stacey Keefer, and a majority of them have less than 25 employees.
Staffing is a big concern in the boating industry, Keefer said. Other hurdles include the steep costs of running a waterfront business. Being a part of a larger company could help financially bolster the marina.
“The waterfront infrastructure is costly. Insurance is costly. So if they have buying power through a larger corporate name, that could certainly be a benefit,” Keefer said.
There also has been a trend in the marina industry to have multiple locations, Keefer said.
With its existing location in Harpswell, Safe Harbor now has two marinas in Maine where its boaters can navigate between.
“This property in Rockland provided us the opportunity to acquire a well-established yacht service operation with a talented team of marine service professionals, which, along with our recently acquired Great Island location in Harpswell, will allow us to better serve our boating network as they transient greater New England and the coast of Maine,” Jason Hogg, Safe Harbor Marinas Chief Investment Officer said.
While there used to be a “stigma” about coming to Maine for recreational boating because of navigating the “fog and rocks and lobster pots,” Keefer said GPS systems have largely relieved some of those fears. She isn’t surprised to see a national company purchasing marina locations in Maine.
“We have some of the most world-class cruising grounds anywhere. You can cruise the Maine coast all summer long and not get bored. It’s probably some of the best cruising in the world,” Keefer said.
With most of Rockland’s tourism generators — like restaurants and hotels — being locally owned, Dugal, of HospitalityMaine, and Morong feel this national investment at the harbor level is a sign that recognition of the city as a worthwhile destination is growing.
“I think it’s a tremendous nod to the city of Rockland that we have a company at this level with this much interest in this area,” Morong said. “It’s exciting that a national company is willing to invest in our little corner of Maine
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Rockland pursuing agreement with private marina to preserve public access to waterfront boardwalk BDN 11/2/21
ROCKLAND, Maine ― For two decades, the public has been allowed to use a boardwalk along Rockland Harbor without any type of legal agreement between the city and waterfront property owners.
But with a changing waterfront, city officials are working to ensure access remains in a more formal way.
The city has begun discussions with a private marina company that recently purchased a property that the boardwalk crosses about creating a formal license or lease agreement that would legally ensure public access to the popular walkway on its property.
The boardwalk access talks are the result of Safe Harbor Marinas’ plan to expand its footprint in Rockland Harbor, where it owns an existing marina. While some in the city have feared the expansion would negatively impact the harbor, the size of the project has been scaled back since it was initially proposed several years ago and marina representatives have said they are prioritizing improving public access on and around their property.
“Working out some legal format for continued access to the boardwalk is certainly more than we’ve had in the past. We’ve used it and continued to use it without any sort of legal guide and I think this is a step ahead in that direction so I’m quite pleased that we’re going to be working on that. Hopefully it’s fairly ironclad and lasts us for a long, long time,” Rockland Mayor Ed Glaser said during a city council meeting Monday night.
Glaser, City Manager Tom Luttrell, Councilor Louise MacLellan-Ruf and Harbormaster Ryan Murry met with Bill Morong, a consultant for Safe Harbor Marinas, last week to discuss how the expansion plan would include increased public access to Rockland Harbor.
Creating a legal agreement for public use of the stretch of boardwalk on Safe Harbor Marinas’ 60 Ocean Street property was discussed as one of the ways to accomplish this, according to city officials who were at the meeting.
The boardwalk was built 20 years ago when MBNA opened its waterfront complex in Rockland, and the public was permitted to walk the harborside path. Through Rockland Harbor Park LLC, local developer Stuart Smith purchased the property in 2007 and has continued to allow the public to use the boardwalk, which is now a part of the city’s harbor trail.
Earlier this year, Safe Harbor Marinas purchased Yachting Solutions’ Rockland marina, including a piece of property Yachting Solutions had been leasing from Rockland Harbor Park LLC. The land purchase split ownership of the boardwalk between Safe Harbor Marinas and Rockland Harbor Park LLC.
City officials said Morong is working to bring Smith to the table to discuss an agreement for the Rockland Harbor Park LLC stretch of boardwalk as well.
“Safe Harbors supports the Harbor Trail effort and we are on board for finding a tool, such as a lease or a license where the public access across the boardwalk is ensured,” Morong said in a letter to council.
It is unclear when a final agreement will be reached, but MacLellan-Ruf said the city would pursue a strong agreement that protected public access for the community.
“This is all going to go to legal [counsel], so anybody who has concerns that people will back out on their word, we’re going to make sure that we have clad and sealed, and absolutely, protection for the community, for that public access,” MacLellan-Ruf said.
As a result of the “positive direction” discussions with Safe Harbor Marinas’ are going, Councilor Nate Davis dropped an effort to have the Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands require that Safe Harbor Marinas compensate the city if the agency approves the marina’s expansion.
Safe Harbor Marinas has also indicated that it would pay for the relocation of any mooring balls that need to be moved due to the expansion, create a new pier and lookout point that will be open to the public on its property, improve access to a nearby city-owned beach and contribute architectural assistance to a plan for public restrooms near the beach, according to city officials.
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Rockland residents to weigh in on revamped marina expansion plan
by Lauren Abbate October 9, 2021
ROCKLAND, Maine — With a public comment deadline looming, Rockland residents will have an opportunity next week to learn more about a recently revised marina expansion project slated for the city’s harbor.
The proposal from Safe Harbor Marinas — a national company that recently purchased a Rockland marina — is currently being reviewed by the Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands and by the state Department of Environmental Protection.
When it was first proposed three years ago, the project caused concerns among residents who feared the expansion would negatively affect the harbor. Revisions to the plan have caused delays in the proposal moving forward. Aspects of the dredging permitting process have also caused delays.
The expansion plan has been scaled back since it was first proposed in 2018, but the City Council has heard from residents who still have concerns about it. To help bring residents up to speed on the revised proposal — and to offer a venue for questions and concerns — the City Council is hosting an informational meeting on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. The Bureau of Parks and Lands is accepting public comments on the proposal through Friday.
“If we can have that informational discussion, maybe some folks will feel more confident in their position about it and still can make public comments through the 15th,” Rockland City Councilor Sarah Austin said this week.
Since the current proposal is only dealing with water-related developments, city approval is not needed, but the council decided it would help to host an informational discussion on the project before the Bureau of Parks and Lands public comment deadline. A councilor suggested sending minutes of the discussion to the bureau, though it is not clear if the city will follow that suggestion.
City officials are working to have an engineer who is working for Safe Harbor Marinas on the project at Wednesday’s public forum, as well as the harbormaster and members of the city’s harbor management committee.
Safe Harbor Marinas acquired the Rockland marina last year, when it purchased the locally-owned company, Yachting Solutions. The marina expansion was originally proposed by Yachting Solutions in 2018, after the company received a $1 million in federal grant funding to expand the transient boater capacity in Rockland.
The project must be completed by fall of 2022 before the grant funding expires, according to the permit application that Safe Harbor submitted to the Bureau of Parks and Lands. Safe Harbor is looking to amend its existing submerged lands lease at the marina site in order to expand.
The project will include expansions of the existing float system to both the east and west of the marina’s main pier. An area of about 138,000 square feet of harbor bottom will need to be dredged for the project, according to the application.
The revised expansion plan will still at least double the marina’s dockage capacity, according to Bill Morong, a consultant for Safe Harbor Marinas, but it also requires less dredging than the earlier proposal. Other revisions include a planned pier extension that has been reduced by about 4,000 square-feet, and having larger boats dock either stern or bow toward the view rather than broadside, to help minimize impacts on the view of the harbor from shore.
“I was one of the people who objected fairly strongly to the original plan several years ago and it is important to acknowledge […] that it is a very different plan now. It’s a much better plan. It’s a plan that was significantly redesigned in response both to public feedback and also city council actions,” Rockland City Councilor Nate Davis said.
If the state approves the project, Safe Harbor Marinas hopes to begin dredging work next month and have the expansion completed by May 2022, according to the application.
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A year later.....
BDN 1/12/22 Midcoast residents are fighting to stop a Rockland marina’s expansion. by Lauren Abbate
More than a dozen midcoast residents are fighting against a proposed marina expansion in Rockland Harbor.
The Department of Environmental Protection granted Safe Harbor Marinas a permit under the Natural Resources Protection Act last month to allow for the expansion of the company’s Rockland marina.
The expansion has faced pushback in Rockland since it was proposed several years ago. The project has since been scaled back, but the group recently appealed the permit, feeling the expansion would ruin the scenic views of the harbor and impede overall access.
“If the proposed expansion is permitted to proceed, the appellants and other Rockland residents and visitors will have an undisclosed number and size of mega yachts as well as numerous other large yachts blocking the scenic view so many now enjoy and even rely on as part of their aesthetic day-to-day life practices,” according to the appeal.
The appeal was received on Jan. 7, and it’s now being reviewed by the department’s Board of Environmental Protection, which handles matters like rulemaking and appeals, according to spokesperson David Madore.
“The permit will remain in effect until the Board deliberates the appeal request and issues a decision,” Madore said.
The project needs the permit to move forward. It also needs final approval from the Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands, which granted preliminary approval last month. A final decision is expected later this week or early next week, according to Karen Foust, a submerged lands coordinator with the bureau.
Safe Harbor Marinas is planning to more than double the docking capacity and increase the availability of dockage in Rockland. Additions include new floats, pilings and fixed piers that would result in 3,500-square-feet of additional docking space. The expanded marina will serve vessels ranging from 20- to 200-feet long, according to Department of Environmental Protection documents, with a majority of vessels ranging from 30- to 60-feet long.
In its review of the project, the department found that the “proposed activity will not unreasonably interfere with existing scenic, aesthetic, recreational or navigational uses of the coastal wetland.”
But the group fighting the permit feels the department erred in their approval and argue that the project will ruin views of the harbor, its public use as well as the use of a nearby beach and boardwalk. They also claim that the environmental concerns were not adequately considered and the potential impacts on wildlife and wildlife habitat.
Appellants also expressed concern that a formal agreement regarding public access and compensation for mooring relocation between Safe Harbor Marinas and the city of Rockland has yet to be signed.
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Rockland pursuing agreement with private marina to preserve public access to waterfront boardwalk 11/2/21 by Lauren Abbate
ROCKLAND, Maine ― For two decades, the public has been allowed to use a boardwalk along Rockland Harbor without any type of legal agreement between the city and waterfront property owners.
But with a changing waterfront, city officials are working to ensure access remains in a more formal way.
The city has begun discussions with a private marina company that recently purchased a property that the boardwalk crosses about creating a formal license or lease agreement that would legally ensure public access to the popular walkway on its property.
The boardwalk access talks are the result of Safe Harbor Marinas’ plan to expand its footprint in Rockland Harbor, where it owns an existing marina. While some in the city have feared the expansion would negatively impact the harbor, the size of the project has been scaled back since it was initially proposed several years ago and marina representatives have said they are prioritizing improving public access on and around their property.
“Working out some legal format for continued access to the boardwalk is certainly more than we’ve had in the past. We’ve used it and continued to use it without any sort of legal guide and I think this is a step ahead in that direction so I’m quite pleased that we’re going to be working on that. Hopefully it’s fairly ironclad and lasts us for a long, long time,” Rockland Mayor Ed Glaser said during a city council meeting Monday night.
Glaser, City Manager Tom Luttrell, Councilor Louise MacLellan-Ruf and Harbormaster Ryan Murry met with Bill Morong, a consultant for Safe Harbor Marinas, last week to discuss how the expansion plan would include increased public access to Rockland Harbor.
Creating a legal agreement for public use of the stretch of boardwalk on Safe Harbor Marinas’ 60 Ocean Street property was discussed as one of the ways to accomplish this, according to city officials who were at the meeting.
The boardwalk was built 20 years ago when MBNA opened its waterfront complex in Rockland, and the public was permitted to walk the harborside path. Through Rockland Harbor Park LLC, local developer Stuart Smith purchased the property in 2007 and has continued to allow the public to use the boardwalk, which is now a part of the city’s harbor trail.
Earlier this year, Safe Harbor Marinas purchased Yachting Solutions’ Rockland marina, including a piece of property Yachting Solutions had been leasing from Rockland Harbor Park LLC. The land purchase split ownership of the boardwalk between Safe Harbor Marinas and Rockland Harbor Park LLC.
City officials said Morong is working to bring Smith to the table to discuss an agreement for the Rockland Harbor Park LLC stretch of boardwalk as well.
“Safe Harbors supports the Harbor Trail effort and we are on board for finding a tool, such as a lease or a license where the public access across the boardwalk is ensured,” Morong said in a letter to council.
It is unclear when a final agreement will be reached, but MacLellan-Ruf said the city would pursue a strong agreement that protected public access for the community.
“This is all going to go to legal [counsel], so anybody who has concerns that people will back out on their word, we’re going to make sure that we have clad and sealed, and absolutely, protection for the community, for that public access,” MacLellan-Ruf said.
As a result of the “positive direction” discussions with Safe Harbor Marinas’ are going, Councilor Nate Davis dropped an effort to have the Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands require that Safe Harbor Marinas compensate the city if the agency approves the marina’s expansion.
Safe Harbor Marinas has also indicated that it would pay for the relocation of any mooring balls that need to be moved due to the expansion, create a new pier and lookout point that will be open to the public on its property, improve access to a nearby city-owned beach and contribute architectural assistance to a plan for public restrooms near the beach, according to city officials.
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