Lauren de Remer looked out from the dock where her classic wooden boat is berthed at Pelican Harbour in Sausalito. She was worried about change.
“It’s the most charming little harbor,” she said, looking north into Richardson Bay where seals are in the water and cormorants sit atop pilings. “It’s just two docks. It’s quiet. It has this open area here. It has the historic charm of having all these old woodies. It has a lot of history. It has really nice facilities.”
De Remer and a handful of neighbors who live in a marina mostly filled with sleek sailboats have been showing up at City Council meetings since April. They have been urging officials to be cautious before approving a tidal waters lease that will allow Cameron Razavi, the owner of the Bridgeway Marina a quarter-mile to the north, to finalize buying Pelican Harbour.
“Over the past several weeks, a number of questions have been raised regarding compliance with permitted use, liveaboard limits, sanitation and safety infrastructure and potential conflicts with local short-term rental restrictions,” Robert McCullough, a Pelican Harbour resident, told the City Council at its meeting on April 21. “I’m not asserting conclusions, but I believe this underscores the importance of ensuring that compliance issues are fully understood and verified before any lease assignment is approved.”
Lauren de Remer walks on her boat at Pelican Harbour in Sausalito, Calif. on Monday, May 11, 2026. (Alan Dep/Marin Independent Journal)
“You guys all know our feelings as tenants about this potential buyer,” de Remer told the council on May 5. “I know you guys care about our waterfront, but I just want to say that we have the opportunity not just to find a more qualified buyer and to stop this from happening, but also to really think through what we want in the long term for our waterfront.”
On Thursday, the City Council will hold a special meeting on whether to lease Pelican Harbour and submerged nearby tidelands to Razavi. He acquired Bridgeway Marina in 2009 and has upgraded it.
At times, Razavi has had strained relationships with different city administrations. Now, he said, there is “nothing adversarial” and described the relationship as “great.”
“Bridgeway Marina speaks for itself and I am beyond proud of it,” he said Monday during a tour of his facility. “We don’t have violations. We don’t have noncompliance. You know, if there’s noncompliance, tell me about it. I’m not aware of any issues — none.”
“I don’t have anything to hide. I spent $2 million on this,” he said, standing between a two-story building with rented lofts at the dock entrance. “This walkway didn’t exist. This is all my work, all the pilings, all the infrastructure, the electrical stuff. … I’m very proud of this.”
Pelican Harbour in Sausalito, Calif., on Monday, May 11, 2026. (Alan Dep/Marin Independent Journal)
“This place got a bad rap,” said Al Corners, who has lived at Bridgeway Marina for 26 years. “Because when there were anchor-outs, they used to come in here and they would go into the showers and they did not use a key, and they pried the doors open. And Cameron was not friendly … and then there was a homeless encampment nearby.”
Corners was one of a half-dozen residents Razavi stopped. He greeted everyone by first names and asked if anyone had issues with the facilities. Everyone said they liked or loved living there.
“I don’t think anyone has any complaints,” said Carol Neal, who has lived at the marina for four years. “We’re doing great here. Everyone’s, you know, everyone’s friendly with everyone else.”
In Razavi’s early years at Bridgeway Marina, the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission, which has jurisdiction over the bay floor and offshore waters, allowed it to have high numbers of liveaboard boats because it served government goals of encouraging people who lived out in the bay — known as anchor-outs — to find affordable housing closer to shore.
Starting a decade ago, however, city officials pressed Razavi to upgrade facilities to comply with city codes. The officials also tried to create joint development plans to add more onshore housing and boat slips that extended as far into the bay as nearby Pelican Harbour and the Sausalito Yacht Harbor. Those plans were delayed and derailed by changes in city staff, the COVID-19 pandemic and state housing mandates, according to officials.
Today, the anchor-outs have come ashore and the homeless campers next to Dunphy Park are gone. Razavi said he has three tideland leases with the city. The fourth would be for Pelican Harbour and includes the open waterway between that marina and Bridgeway Marina. The Turney Street dock, the city’s only public ramp and dock, is between the two marinas.
Razavi discussed his plans for properties, including what he could not do. He cannot remove the unsightly remnants of boat ramps and piles next to Bridgeway Marina, he said, because the bay agency won’t allow him to disturb the bay floor. He wishes the city would place trash cans in nearby streets so people wouldn’t use his bins.
He also envisions a much larger complex. Razavi said he has discussed with city officials adding 35 slips to the north of Bridgeway Marina and another 40 slips to its east. The marina now has 65 slips. He also has plans to build 30 condominiums on land bordering the marina.
Closer to Pelican Harbour, he envisions building 20 arks — small wooden homes — on piles that would follow Pine Street into the bay. All of these projects would face lengthy public reviews. In the shorter-term, however, if Razavi acquires Pelican Harbour, he said he would likely charge market-rate rents. Its boats are more upscale than the Bridgeway Marina boats.
Jacques Elstrom stands aboard his boat in Pelican Harbour in Sausalito, Calif., on Monday, May 11, 2026. (Alan Dep/Marin Independent Journal)
“I’ve been here almost 30 years and you can count the rent increases on one hand and still have some fingers left,” said Jacques Elstrom, who lives on a 50-foot cabin cruiser. He does not oppose “an honest rent,” he said, but is concerned that needed maintenance, such as replacing old boards on the docks, would be postponed.
“My personal feeling is the rents will go high and that money will not be returned into maintaining the marina,” he said. “It will go into the pocket of the people, the investors, and we will all pay the price.”
Razavi said he had no plans to attend the City Council meeting Thursday because the accusations about his track record at Bridgeway Marina were based on “false premises.”
“It’s beneath me to show up and negate a baseless comment. It’s absurd,” he said. “Honestly, it’s analogous to someone saying Cameron is going to build a high rise.”
But Neal urged Razavi to talk to the Pelican Harbour residents.
“I talked with someone over there and they said we’d like it if Cameron would hold a meeting with us,” she said. “We don’t really know what’s going on and what’s happening.”