Analysis Challenges RV Park : Port Hueneme: A consultant hired by condo owners opposed to the plan says the city could lose $190,000 in the first two years.

Port Hueneme could lose $190,000 in the first two years of operating a recreational vehicle park proposed for the southeast end of Hueneme Beach, said a consultant hired by the RV park’s opponents.

City staff contend that the 10-acre RV park would bring $400,000 a year to the financially strapped city.

But RV park expert John Imler said his analysis shows a significant loss of revenue during the first two years of operation.

He said the park would net a profit of less than $100,000 annually by its fifth year, a time when RV parks usually become well-established.

Imler was hired by the Surfside III Condominium Owners Assn., which opposes the park proposed between the condo complex and the ocean.

Imler, a former recreational park developer and now a consultant based in Auburn, Calif., will make his presentation at the meeting, which begins at 7:30 p.m. at City Hall.

A representative of the city’s RV park consulting firm, Williams-Kuebelbeck & Associates, Inc. of Irvine, is expected to be on hand to respond to Imler’s comments, many of which attack an earlier Williams-Kuebelbeck report.

“We will be giving them an opportunity to go toe to toe with their accuser, so to speak,” said Tom Figg, Port Hueneme’s director of community development. “Our intent is to give Mr. Imler an opportunity to present his case and give his findings. We don’t want to make this confrontational.”

In his report, Imler said the RV park would be a poor moneymaker because, in part, the site is too far from a major freeway, making it difficult for recreational vehicle owners to reach.

He also said the surrounding area offers little in the way of tourist attractions.

“There are a lot of RV parks and campgrounds out there, but the place where people go is where there are things to do,” said Imler, a former president of the California Travel Parks Association. “There either need to be amenities in the park that are different and can occupy people’s time, or activities in the area. I didn’t find anything in the Port Hueneme area that’s a tremendous draw.”

The Williams-Kuebelbeck study, completed in 1990, said the 143-space park could reasonably expect a 70% annual occupancy rate in the first few years of operation.

With a nightly campsite rental fee of $25, that would amount to a total annual income of $868,000 in rents, store and vending-machine sales.

The study said the park will bring the city $399,600 a year in revenue after deducting $468,000 in annual operating costs.

But Imler said the proposed rental fee is 15% higher than that of other facilities in the area. He also said a 70% occupancy rate is too high an expectation.

“The industry as a whole does not support anything near what was being claimed in the study,” Imler said. “Our experience is that parks do not start out at peak-level occupancies.”

Imler’s report says the annual occupancy rate for privately owned RV facilities between Oxnard and King City dropped from 60% in 1988 to 54% in 1992.

“My personal opinion is that this is a poor place to spend taxpayers’ money and it’s not going to be the cash cow they expect it to be,” Imler said.

Figg said he welcomes a different financial analysis of the RV park. “Obviously, there’s a difference of opinion,” he said.

Councilwoman Toni Young said council members have made up their minds about the RV park already, and Imler’s report will probably have little impact.

“I don’t think it would matter what Mr. Imler says,” Young said. “The City Council has a goal to raise revenue so they can continue to provide services we have and to provide more services. They are convinced the RV park will be a source of revenue to the city and I don’t think they can be swayed from that opinion.”

The feasibility of the RV park has not been the only point of contention. The environmental impact of building an RV park along the shore has also been the subject of much debate.

Environmental groups have protested the park based on potentially harmful effects they say it could have on endangered birds in the neighboring wetlands.

In response to concerns of state and federal agencies, Port Hueneme staff revised the original plans for the park.

City staff now proposes the park be moved 100 feet to the northwest to provide a buffer zone to protect the birds.

The city is currently working on a revised environmental impact report to present to the California Coastal Commission.