Santa Barbara’s seasonal anchorage area near Stearns Wharf soon will become a permit-only mooring area in an effort by the city’s Waterfront Department to improve safety for boats and underwater infrastructure.

The area, locally known as Fools Anchorage, will get 17 large white mooring balls added to the expanded mooring area by the end of the summer, according to Nathan Alldredge, harbor operations manager.

Boaters looking to use the new moorings must fill out a permit application, have proof of general liability vessel insurance and undergo inspection by the city’s Harbor Patrol before using the area.

In a letter from Alldredge to boat owners and operators, he told them that all anchored vessels in that area needed to be moved out by June 15.

The area has historically been used as a free seasonal anchorage area where boats could drop anchor from April 1 through Oct. 31.

Under the new policy, boaters will have the option of paying $500 a month, $200 a week or $30 a night to use the mooring area.

Anchoring in that area has caused damage to city pipelines and intake structures, Noozhawk reported, raising concerns within the city’s Public Works Department.

One of the main reasons for the mooring change is to protect the desalination intake and wastewater outfall pipeline and infrastructure, Alldredge said.

Having boaters secure their vessels to moorings instead of dropping an anchor is more “secure and safe,” he added.

The mooring area also could prevent boats from going aground on the beach during large winter swells, he said.

“It is a huge environmental issue when we have Mission Creek and sensitive habitats and wetlands over there, too,” Alldredge said.

Currently, the city’s Waterfront Department has conceptual plans and is working with a contractor for the new moorings, he added.

“It’s kind of a long process, and these projects take awhile, but I am looking forward to getting these in there and hopefully for visiting boaters to use the new moorings,” Alldredge said.  

He shared with the city’s Harbor Commission in May that the permitting process had been completed and that the department would be contracting with Castagnola Tug Services to install the moorings.

“The last step before the project can finally begin,” he told the commissioners. 

The damage to city infrastructure prompted the Santa Barbara Public Works Department to propose closing the area about three years ago. 

Installing some fixed mooring balls as a compromise allowed the area to stay open, Alldredge said. 

The city’s Waterfront Department has been working toward the expansion for two years and received unanimous support from the Harbor Commission, according to Alldredge.

The area has three boat anchoring zones: the seasonal anchorage, a permanent mooring area next to it, and a year-round anchorage.

The year-round anchor anchorage still will be available to boaters and will not see any changes.