All 70-year-old Paula Uccelli wants to do is get out of the business of running a harbor her late husband established and called Pete’s Harbor. She and Pete Uccelli ran the harbor for 60 years until his passing; since then she’s been largely on her own.
Month’s ago, Ms. Uccelli made the decision to sell Pete’s Harbor, and informed her tenants, who are on boats and in recreational vehicles, to find other places to dock and park. Considering that the tenants are mobile, this, on its face, would seem to be a rather easy thing to do.
While many tenants have done this (about a third of the total of 52) a group of them have not, and instead, launched a nasty attempt to get Paula Uccelli to change her plans. Their work did not involve peacefully working to help her; instead they sought to frighten and bully her into changing her mind, and putting her own heath at risk in two ways: by continuing to operate the harbor, or by defying them.
As Ms. Uccelli said in October, she doesn’t want to operate the harbor any more at her age – she’s 70. Surely, anyone with a heart and a mother can understand that. Paula elected to do the logical thing for her future: she sold her property so that it could be built for housing.
Paula has done everything she could do to work with tenants, including allowing them to get out of their lease contracts without having to pay off the remaining time owed – they could just move.
Save Pete’s Harbor Not Harassing Ms. Uccelli
The group called Save Pete’s Harbor seems more intent on blocking the development of housing than harassing Ms. Uccelli. For them, it’s a matter of saving Pete’s Harbor. But the problem is in the very structure of the deal between Ms. Uccelli and the developers: it leaves the developers in the position of being able to do with the land what they wish within legal bounds. Again, that’s because Ms. Uccelli wanted to sell the property and get out of the harbor-running business. That has to be respected.
Many Tenants Have Inoperable Engines: Developers Can Help
The main problem is many of the tenants on boats have engines that don’t work, preventing them from moving. The developers can pitch-in and help by providing them with money to get their motors fixed. Otherwise, they’re sitting ducks – it’s hard to argue that a person who can’t move due to physical inability to do so, doesn’t want to move. The best solution is to get the tenants able to move, and find slips where they can do so.
There are other marinas in the Bay Area: The Oakland Marina and the Berkeley Marina are two examples that come to mind. Indeed, each of the counties in the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area has several marinas available.
Today is the day that Pete’s Harbor tenants are, sadly, to be evicted. Let’s hope and work for a peaceful and productive end to this story.
Stay tuned.