Special Notice / Hearing: None__
Vote Required: Majority
To: Honorable Board of Supervisors
From: Nicholas J. Calderon, Parks Director
Subject: Third Amendment to Lease No. 5025 with the Coyote Point Yacht Club to extend the term of the agreement and grant the County rights of access
RECOMMENDATION:
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Adopt a resolution authorizing the President of the Board of Supervisors to execute a third amendment to Lease No. 5025 with the Coyote Point Yacht Club to extend the term of the agreement through August 1, 2025 and grant the County rights of access to Yacht Club property.
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BACKGROUND:
The Coyote Point Recreation Area (“Coyote Point”) is a 149-acre County-owned and operated park that is located in the City of San Mateo. Although Coyote Point is best known for its playgrounds, beach, trails, and picnic areas, its marina (“Coyote Point Marina”) is a popular resource for the local boating and sailing community. Complimenting the services provided at the Coyote Point Marina is the Coyote Point Yacht Club (“Yacht Club”), a private club that features a clubhouse with a kitchen and bar, lounge, expansive backyard with barbeque facilities, showers facilities, and locker rooms (“Clubhouse”). The Yacht Club also leases a guest dock at the Coyote Point Marina to support its youth sailing program.
The Yacht Club’s ground lease (the “Lease”) with the County, as originally authorized by San Mateo County Resolution No. 24252 (September 16, 1967), granted the Yacht Club the right to occupy specified land adjacent to the Coyote Point Marina and construct improvements upon its leasehold-including the Clubhouse-which are owned by the Yacht Club. The Lease, which had an original term of 25 years, has twice been amended by this Board to extend its term and modify certain other Lease provisions: first in 1997 to extend the Lease term to September 2011 (Resolution No. 57634); and second in 2004 to extend the term of the Lease to September 15, 2024 and to (among other things) require the Yacht Club to make specified improvements to the Clubhouse, as approved by the County, to comply with the Americans with Disability Act (Resolution No. 067048).
DISCUSSION:
The Second Amendment to the Lease, dated August 1, 2004, expressly stated that the Yacht Club “shall have no further right to renew or extend the term of the Lease” beyond its expiration date of September 15, 2024. On or about January 26, 2024, the County Parks Department (“Department”) provided the Yacht Club with a courtesy notice informing the Yacht Club that, after careful consideration, it did not intend to renew or extend the Yacht Club’s Lease past its September 15, 2024 expiration date. The Department made this determination because the eastern segment of Coyote Point-inclusive of the Yacht Club’s Clubhouse-is underutilized and should be improved to provide a greater level of service to the public.
In 2023, the Department launched the Revitalize Coyote Point initiative which is a planning and community engagement effort designed to inform the Department how the public would like to use the park. To date, the Department has collected feedback at three community events, released two on-line surveys, and engaged with community-based organizations to better understand how people want to experience Coyote Point. Revitalize Coyote Point will conclude in late 2024, and the Department will use the information collected to plan future improvements to the park, including the area around Coyote Point Marina and Clubhouse.
Because, however, the Department is immediately focused on other efforts, including the opening of Tunitas Creek Beach, the Realize Flood Park project, the construction of new day use facilities at San Bruno Mountain, the Pescadero Community Space project, and the replacement of Magic Mountain Playground in Coyote Point, the Department has no immediate plans to improve the area of Coyote Point where the Clubhouse is located. As such, the Department recommends entering into the Third Amendment to the Lease to extend the Lease through August 1, 2025, which will give the Department time to collect feedback and prepare a plan for how the area around Coyote Point Marina and Clubhouse can best serve the public, while also allowing the Yacht Club to host camps and events through the summer of 2025 and otherwise plan for its future.
It is noted that the Lease provides that at the Lease’s termination, the Yacht Club has the option to either remove the Clubhouse (at its own expense), or offer to transfer ownership of the Clubhouse to the County (subject to the County’s acceptance thereof).
Thus, this Third Amendment to the Lease will also provide the Department with rights of access to the Clubhouse to evaluate its suitability for use/acceptance by the County should the Yacht Club offer to transfer ownership thereof at the Lease’s expiration.
The County Attorney’s Office has reviewed and approved the resolution and amendment as to form and language.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no Net County Cost associated with adoption of the recommendation.