_{Thumbnail image: The proposed site for a new restroom is shown in green near two new parking spaces in light blue. An alternative location, shown in yellow within the boundaries of Redwood Harbor Village RV park had been rejected. | Courtesy of the Crescent City Harbor District}

A month after they were faced with the possibility of having to abandon the project, Crescent City Harbor commissioners chose a site for public restrooms serving the South Beach and the California Coastal Trail.

But a dispute that began at a Sept. 30 special meeting over the proposed location on Starfish Way across the street from Redwood Harbor Village spilled over to Wednesday’s meeting. Commissioner Annie Nehmer argued that the Harbor District “tore down a perfectly good bathroom” to benefit Crescent City Beach Village developer Daniel Dahan. Board President Rick Shepherd said the public isn’t being asked to walk that far from the beach to access a restroom.

Former commissioner Harry Adams also weighed in, urging the Board not to build the restrooms on the Redwood Harbor Village overflow lot due to its potential commercial value to the harbor.

“Three years ago we got the grant, we got the design, where are we today?” Adams asked, referring to the $450,000 California Coastal Conservancy grant the Harbor District received in 2023 to build the facility. Adams said he had been advocating for a restroom near South Beach for six years.

“We’ve been having port-a-potties for years, let’s get it done,” he said.

Three Crescent City Harbor commissioners approved the proposed location for the public restroom and shower facility on Starfish Way. Nehmer and her colleague Dan Schmidt dissented. Schmidt said the restroom should be near the handicap-accessible ramp from Anchor Way to South Beach.

According to a new map of the proposed site from Community System Solutions CEO Mike Bahr, who manages the Harbor District’s grant-funded projects, a public restroom had been located at the corner of the Redwood Harbor Village overflow lot about half a block from Starfish Way and Anchor Way.

Harbormaster Mike Rademaker said the restroom had been torn down due to asbestos contamination, plus the Harbor District would be losing a potential revenue-sharing opportunity if they replaced it.

According to Bahr, Dahan has expressed interest in leasing so he could build more cabins. The Harbor District would receive rent from Dahan’s company as well as a share of the gross revenue if the cabins were rented out, Bahr said.

Bahr said the walk to the restroom’s new proposed spot is about 60 feet more than if it had been built in the overflow lot. He said it would take 20 seconds to “I’ll call it a minute if somebody was very slow” to walk from the coastal trail to the new restroom site. 

Another previously proposed site for a restroom, on Redwood Harbor Village property, which Dahan is currently leasing and renovating is also not ideal, Bahr said. 

That spot had been approved by the California Coastal Commission before the Harbor District entered into negotiations with Dahan and competing developers Sean McGraw and Scott Lawhon over the RV park, Bahr said.

“Both proposers felt it was their highest value corner,” Bahr said. “Each was proposing the rental cabins for that area.”

The developers’ concerns weren’t just regarding the size of the restroom facility itself, Bahr said. He noted that there would be a minimum of three parking spaces required, including a handicap space, making for a large footprint, about 48 feet by 30 feet. According to Bahr, Dahan would be giving up enough space for one, possibly two cabins.

According to Bahr, the estimated annual gross revenue loss from one cabin to Dahan’s company, Crescent City Beach Village, would be $83,000. The Harbor District’s portion would be about 10%, or $8,300 annually, Bahr said.

The deadline to complete the project is 2029, Bahr said. The Harbor District is currently without a contractor to assemble the modular facility. Though a contract had been awarded through a request for proposals process, it has since expired and a new RFP will need to be issued, Bahr said.

Nehmer, referring to mention of a potential miniature golf course associated with the Crescent City Beach Village development, said the Coastal Commission had approved the proposed site at the overflow lot, but the developer didn’t want it there.

“So they’re going to put it in the middle where everyone can walk from the miniature golf course, from the RV park, so they don’t have to use their own facilities,” she said. “They’ll use ours and, you know, they’ll be paying rent over there and they’ll make anyone who’s ADA on the beach walk further.”

Shepherd argued that while the overflow lot is the ideal place for the restrooms, it would take up space that could potentially be used for a cabin, which would mean revenue for the Harbor District.

“If you want to keep arguing about this, then we can bring it back in a couple weeks,” he said. “But, I mean, you’re looking at a very short walk.”