Some visitors overstay their welcome by a few hours or days. Peter Ellett has overstayed his by almost nine months.
Ellett’s boat, The Aurora, has been occupying Monterey Harbor slip for visiting boats, which are allowed to stay for up to two weeks. (The waiting list for one of the 413 permanent slips is a decade.)
Monterey Harbormaster Steve Scheiblauer has been trying to evict Ellett since March, but Ellett’s repeatedly appealed and refused to leave. The city is now asking the Monterey County Superior Court to step in.
The city filed July 23 for a restraining order to prevent Ellett from being in the harbor or approaching Monterey harbor staff.
“Ellett appears to be unstable and his anger is increasing,” Scheiblauer wrote in court papers.
Ellett says he’s urging the FBI to look into his grievances.
After Scheiblauer ordered him out, Ellett appealed, but the City Council unanimously upheld the harbormaster’s decision July 2.
As of press time, the city has been unable to locate Ellett to serve him a notice of the Aug. 15 restraining order hearing, according to Assistant City Attorney Karin Salameh.
Ellett’s at least paid up on rent for his mooring; the city lifted a $2,500 lien on The Aurora two weeks ago. Transient boaters pay about $800 a month, double the rate of long-term tenants.