Proposed Floating Dock System Gets Approval in Sausalito

The Sausalito waterfront is in the news again, this time regarding a proposal to upgrade (this might be an understatement) the dilapidated docks at Turney Street. Sausalito is lacking sufficient public dock space and boat launch facilities; new docks could therefore be a boon to the popular tourist town. Last month, the Sausalito council voted to approve a proposal that entails replacing the broken docks and silted slips with a reconfigurable modular floating dock system.

The new dock system has been given the go-ahead for a one-year pilot project. If successful, the developers stand to sign a 10-year lease.

On February 27, the council published a “Turney Street Floating Dock Improvement Project and Business Partnership Request for Ideas and Proposals (RFIP)” with a closing date of March 26. The RFIP stated, “The City owns the Turney Street land, waterfront, and water parcels, the finger pier, boat launch ramp, and adjacent floating docks. The floating docks are in poor condition and require repair or replacement. The current finger pier and boat ramp operate unmanaged on a first come first serve basis. The City views this site as an opportunity for a public-private partnership that can activate the waterfront, improve public access, and support maritime-oriented business operations that can help fund infrastructure improvements and provide an ongoing revenue stream to the City.”

The long, white-roofed building in the photo above was once a wooden-boatbuilding facility, hence the name of the current business that resides within, Joinery, a beer and food hall. The deck outside Joinery and the adjacent timber boardwalk are solid, and relatively new. But the surrounding area, the space now designated to become the site of floating docks, is not only in disrepair. There is little water in that part of the foreshore, and low tide exposes all manner of cables, bollards and debris that would wreck a hull.

The city was looking for “an innovative project [that] could be in place by this summer and, if successful, become a waterfront fixture,” Marin Independent Journal (MIJ) writes. The proposals were to “complement Sausalito’s maritime character, improve public access,” and provide a place for visitors to reach Sausalito by water, while also protecting the surrounding environment including eelgrass, assistant city manager Brandon Phipps told MIJ.

Submissions were required to meet six criteria: “revenue generation to the city, benefits to neighboring businesses, benefits to residents, benefits to visitors, creativity and financial viability.”

Two proposals were submitted — one being the floating dock system, and the other, named Wild Life Parade, is described as “a temporary, site-responsive art installation consisting of colorful, life-size representations of local wildlife (seagulls, herons, river otters, seals, cormorants and other native species) installed on pilings, docks, and shoreline elements throughout the project area.” The installations would be visible at high tide, and would reveal more features as the tide receded. City staff recommended that the council adopt the floating dock proposal and refer the art installation to the Parks and Recreation Commission. As boaters, we wholeheartedly agree with this recommendation.

“They’re calling the concept the Turney Modular Maritime Access Hub,” Phipps told MIJ. “The physical strategy is straightforward. It’s removing the dilapidated docks, [retaining] the existing piles as the structural framework and [installing] a modular floating dock system that can be reconfigured over time.”

“The system is designed to evolve based on actual observed use,” he said. “The proposed use includes public landing and dinghy access, short-term boat parking, rental slips, water taxi and boat valet operations, charter staging and food delivery by water, with potential for additional maritime and commercial activation over time.”

While the dock proposal has been successful, it it now up to the developer to deliver. As they say of many new proposals, “Watch this space.”