Richardson Bay agency approves vessel purchase program
The Richardson’s Bay Regional Agency has initiated a buyback incentive program to accelerate the removal of vessels from the anchorage.
Interim Executive Director Steve McGrath said the board of directors voted unanimously on Thursday to approve the program, which will offer vessel owners in Richardson Bay a rate of $150 per lineal foot to sell their vessels.
“Incentives are better than enforcement. We want to encourage people. We want to recognize the actual or emotional value of their vessel to them,” McGrath said. “This is an innovative program.”
There is currently $100,000 allocated to the program. McGrath said an average-sized vessel 35 feet in length would receive $5,250 in return. The funding would be expended after 19 vessels.
McGrath said if the program was successful, the RBRA would seek to raise money from other sources to continue the program. The current program runs from July 1 through Dec. 1.
“Today is not too early for someone to express interest,” he said.
The program is considered first come, first serve, though staff hopes to prioritize vessels that are currently located in the eelgrass protection zone. Applicants are not limited to applying for the buyback on a single boat.
Applicants will be limited to one of the 69 vessels currently on the anchorage, McGrath said. Of these, 55 are located within the eelgrass protection zone. Harbormaster Jim Malcolm cataloged each of the crafts by name on June 1. The program does not apply to dinghy, skiffs or other small crafts. The RBRA plans to dispose of the vessels that it purchases.
McGrath said the program will be driven by interactions with the applicants. The RBRA hopes to ensure recipients of the program have a home and will not seek to be unhoused following the payout.
“We want to ensure nobody goes from the anchorage to, for example, the encampment in Sausalito,” he said. “If you are leaving a vessel that you say is your home we want an address of somewhere where you’re going to be.”
The plan comes as the agency is developing a mooring field for 15 vessels to reside until 2026. The mooring field will be a temporary location for a select group of mariners to live for about three years before all permanent residents are banned.
The mooring plan resulted from a settlement in August between the agency and the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission. The agreement detailed a five-year plan for displacing the boat residents known as “anchor-outs” in order to protect eelgrass.
The agency — an authority of Mill Valley, Belvedere, Tiburon and the county — enforces a 72-hour anchorage rule in the bay.
Guy Kelley, an anchor out, said he would not be interested in the program. He said he moved into the area with the intent of living there and still planned to do so in defiance of planned removal.
“This is just another angle to get people off the anchorage,” he said. “I think it’s just another ploy. This is my home, this is where I live.”