_{Thumbnail photo: Bayside RV Park is one of two the Crescent City Harbor District is looking to lease for redevelopment. | By Jessica Cejnar Andrews}

Crescent City Harbor commissioners say they’re in the final stages of their negotiations with potential developers for the district’s two RV parks.

But their experience with the last developer who sought to revamp Bayside and Redwood Harbor Village RV parks still haunts them, they say. Responding to a member of the public Wednesday, Chairman Rick Shepherd said he’d like to present a bottomline to the developers by the Harbor District’s April 8 meeting.

“I’m done with it and I’m ready to move on,” he said.

The Crescent City Harbor District has been negotiating with Scott Lawhon and Sean McGraw, of Crescent City Holdings, and Daniel Dahan, registered agent of Long Beach-based BSD Property Management. 

Commissioners have also begun considering self-management, Harbormaster Mike Rademaker told Redwood Voice Community News. But on Thursday, Rademaker said there had been significant progress toward finalizing a deal made in the last 24 hours. If the Harbor District did take over management of the RV parks, it would have to divert already scarce resources toward repairs, refurbishment and a more aggressive marketing strategy, he said.

“We are keeping the self-management option open solely as a contingency,” Rademaker said. “We would only go it alone if the financial terms proposed by developers were so unfavorable that the District believed it would be worse off financially. During these negotiations, there have been moments where that seemed like a real possibility.”

Rademaker began communicating with Lawhon and McGraw about the RV parks when he took over as interim harbormaster in October 2024.

Based in Orange County, they made a formal proposal to the Board of Commissioners and the public in July, saying they planned on investing more than $1.2 million in Bayside and Redwood Harbor Village. Their plans included pavement resurfacing, planting native “low-maintenance” plants and building “cabin-like RV rentals” for those who didn’t have motorhomes.

Their vision included partnering with local businesses to sell their products at an RV park store as well as sponsoring sailing and fishing programs for kids.

In August, though Rademaker had been negotiating with the Crescent City Holdings representatives, the Board of Commissioners approved issuing a request for proposal for RV park developers. 

In December, the Board of Commissioners entered into a $10,000 agreement with McGraw and Lawhon over the exclusive right to negotiate leasing Bayside and Redwood Harbor Village. At a Dec. 17 meeting, Shepherd said the Harbor Board gave CCHD staff until Dec. 31 to conclude negotiations.

On Jan. 14, the Board of Commissioners rejected a proposal from the Orange County-based developers, but agreed to continue negotiating.

On Wednesday, at a meeting that included himself and his two colleagues, Gerhard Weber and Dan Schmidt, Shepherd told the public that he’d like to tell the developers that the Board of Commissioners would make a decision by April 8 “whether you’re on board or (not).”

According to Weber, the Harbor Board has been asking for the developers’ best deal and determining whether it’s on board with it. 

Rademaker said he’d hate for a minor technicality would force the Harbor District to walk away, saying that the Board spent hours in closed session on Tuesday hearing from financial advisors about the RV park proposals. 

“The bottomline is we have to achieve a deal where all parties are better off,” he said. “And sometimes it’s difficult because we’re talking about a 15-year initial term lease with three five-year extensions. We want the developer to be successful, and the harbor has its own financial constraints.”

According to Rademaker, because the parks’ full potential hasn’t yet been realized, arriving at an accurate valuation is challenging. Due to the Harbor District’s financial constraints, however, it can’t afford to consider a below-market deal, he said.

Shepherd also pointed out that after their experience working with Alex Lemus, he and his colleagues were being careful about vetting any other potential partners. 

Lemus had been instrumental in helping the Harbor District install a system of solar panel carports in 2019. He answered a request for proposals to redevelop the harbor in 2020 and in 2021 presented a plan to revitalize the two RV parks. Those plans included purchasing Airstream trailers and cabins for short-term stays and had made provisions for 86 tenants who were living at Bayside.

By June 2023, communications between the two parties had broken down. Six months later, Lemus agreed to terminate the ground leases he held for the two parks and pay the Harbor District $100,000.

On Wednesday, Shepherd said that he was extremely upset that they have yet to reach a deal with the current developers. He told Rademaker to have a staff report on April 8.