South Haven's municipal marinas close for the year on October 15. This winter, for the first time, the city will also rent out part of the Black River Park overflow lot so residents can store their boats there. The City Council approved the one-year pilot at its Monday, October 5, 2026 meeting. It holds no more than 20 boats and takes trailered vessels only. The city will not touch the boats once they're parked.
That small lot says a lot about winter storage in South Haven. Space is tight enough that City Hall decided to rent out pavement. The pilot only works for an owner whose boat already sits on its own trailer and is already winterized and shrink-wrapped. Every other boat needs one of the private yards, and those yards differ mostly in how much work they'll do on the boat.
Twenty Spots on a Lot Built for Summer Overflow
In summer, Black River Park's overflow lot takes the extra cars and trailers from the launch ramp. According to the South Haven Tribune's report in The Herald-Palladium, the lot sits empty in the off-season. City Manager Kate Hosier said the area isn't used for snow storage either.
The Tribune reported that the mapped area could fit about 25 vessels. Assistant City Manager Michael Landis said the city would stop at 20 to keep enough room, and would only take boats on trailers. Landis wrote the storage agreement with Marina Manager Tyrell Wilson. He told the Tribune it is "really modeled after what is our slip-holder agreement here with the city of South Haven for municipal marinas, but it's just storing it on land, versus in the water."
The city's part of the deal is small. WSJM reported that owners must have their boats shrink-wrapped and winterized before drop-off. City staff will not move or service the boats and will only check on them from time to time. In the official meeting recording, staff said a tight-fitting cover could stand in for shrink-wrap. The Tribune summed it up: the program "will only be a place to keep the vessel."
Why City Hall Got Into the Storage Business
The pilot is about money for the marinas. Hosier explained the reasoning to the council, as the Tribune reported:
"As we know, we have four municipal marinas and we have around 250 boat slips, so we cover about a quarter of the harbor and with all that infrastructure, we do have to find alternative revenue sources because we have a lot of things to fix. Marinas are surprisingly quite expensive."
The four marinas are Northside, Southside, Maritime and Black River Park. The city's marina page lists 229 slips, so "around 250" is a rough figure. Those docks earn money for half the year. The rest of the year they cost money and earn none.
The council debate showed how short storage space already is. Council member Tom Capps worried about competing with private businesses. Then he told the council what he had heard from a local marina owner. In WSJM's account, Capps said the owner "charges a pretty good fee for storage and he turns people away because he doesn't have enough." Landis put it this way to the Tribune: "The intention is not to be a competition with our providers who are offering this service already. We're an additional option." City staff also agreed to talk with the private storage providers.
So private yards are turning boats away, and 20 city spots won't change that much. The council approved the program for a single year so it can be reviewed again next fall.
What the $2 Figure Does and Doesn't Tell You
The pilot's price is $2 per square foot. Nobody at the October 5 meeting said whether that's a one-time charge for the season. No one gave a formula for measuring a boat, either. Hosier said only that staff would know a boat's size and how much space it takes up.
Here's a rough example, assuming the city charges per season and measures length times width. A 20-foot boat that is 8 feet wide covers 160 square feet, which would come to $320. Add the trailer's tongue to the length and the number goes up. The city hasn't confirmed either assumption.
For comparison, Pier 33 in St. Joseph publishes its rates. Its page, labeled for the 2025-26 season, lists heated indoor storage at $11.75 to $15 per square foot without a trailer. Outdoor storage runs $20 to $30 per linear foot. The lower prices go to owners who pay by October 31, 2026. Pier 33 measures with the longest published length and beam, or its own tape measure. It also offers on-site shrink-wrapping and winterizing and a gated outdoor yard. The gap between $2 and $11.75 per square foot is roughly what heat, a building and staff cost, compared with an outdoor parking lot.
Matching the Boat to the Yard
Since space is scarce, the useful question is what each place will do for your boat. Here's what the South Haven options publish about themselves:
| Option | Where | Storage offered | Who winterizes | Published pricing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| City pilot lot | Black River Park overflow lot | Outdoor parking lot, trailered boats only, 20 max | Owner, before drop-off | $2 per sq ft, billing period unconfirmed |
| SoHa Marine Storage | 65712 16th Ave. | Cold indoor and outdoor, trailered boats, year-round | Owner, before drop-off | Quote on request |
| Maple Grove Marine Storage | South Haven | Indoor for up to 50 boats, eight outdoor acres | Yard offers winterization; shrink-wrap by quote | Rates by length × beam; posted list is from 2024 |
| Gull Lake Marine | South Haven location | Heated indoor, indoor, outdoor, in-and-out | Yard must winterize boats stored on site | Shrink-wrap by the foot; storage rates not posted |
The table splits into two groups. The city lot and SoHa Marine Storage both expect you to winterize your boat before you drop it off. SoHa is storage-only and handles pick-up and drop-off by appointment. Its indoor option keeps snow off the cover, which the open city lot can't do.
Maple Grove Marine Storage and Gull Lake Marine do the prep work themselves. Gull Lake Marine requires it: any boat stored on site gets winterized by its crew. It also runs a 35-ton hoist, the right tool for a boat too big for a trailer. Maple Grove's posted storage season runs October 1 to May 15. It won't haul a boat until it has a signed contract and a deposit. Its online price list is from 2024, so ask for this season's numbers directly.
The city lot only takes boats on trailers. Both the city lot and SoHa expect a boat to show up already winterized. A big boat that still needs prep work has a smaller group of yards than the list of names suggests, and those are the yards a council member says are already turning people away.
Questions for the City Before October Ends
The pilot agreement covers requirements, drop-off dates, late fees and storage fees, but the Tribune didn't print those details. If you're thinking about one of the 20 spots, call the marina office with these questions:
- Is the $2 per square foot charged once for the whole season?
- How is the space measured, and does the trailer tongue count?
- What are the drop-off and pick-up dates, and what are the late fees?
- Is the lot only for city residents, and do current slip holders get first chance?
- How do you apply, and how do you find out if you got a spot?
The ramp matters for timing, too. The city lists the Black River Park launch ramp as seasonal but hasn't posted a closing date for this year. This season's launch passes were $150, or $100 for seniors 65 and older, and a single launch cost $10. You can watch the full council discussion in the city's recording of the October 5 meeting.
Storage agreements are contracts, and this post is general information, not legal or financial advice. Read the actual terms and check insurance questions with your own advisor before you sign.
If a boat or a slip comes with the lakeshore home you're buying or selling, details like where it spends the winter can affect the deal. Amy O'Sullivan can help you sort through those details for your own property, starting with a home valuation that counts what's in the water as well as what's on the lot.
