Norwich — Residents expressed frustration that the problems and shortcomings at Norwich Harbor described by the Harbor Management Commission in a public presentation Tuesday are the same ones that have plagued the city’s waterfront for the past decade or longer.

The need to relocate the boat launch out of the Howard T. Brown Memorial Park, the presence of a scrapyard on the valuable waterfront and the dearth of attractions that could bring tourists and business investment to the harbor all are longtime problems hurting the waterfront’s potential.

Resident Kim O’Brien added that the “first mistake” the city made was allowing three large parking garages to be built near the waterfront, where restaurants and shops should be located. She said the “big pink building” — the long vacant former Marina Towers office building at the entrance to the Marina at American Wharf — is “the biggest eyesore” on the waterfront. Plans for a hotel at the site never materialized.

Resident John Blanchette said a new clam shack that opened in Greeneville should be located at the harbor, and the city should help businesses become established there. He said the emphasis on boating and fishing is seasonal, while the city needs four-season attractions on the waterfront.

Harbor Management Commission consultant Geoff Steadman started the meeting with an overview of the updated Waterfront Vision — a starting point for rewriting the 1996 Harbor Management Plan — for about 15 residents and city officials in attendance.

The vision document placed finding a new location for the boat launch as the top priority, followed by improving the aging public docks at Brown Park.

Harbor commission member Gerald Martin said the number of festivals and regular events at Brown Park are making it imperative to find a new location for the boat launch. The cramped conditions, lack of parking and safety issues with pedestrians in the park are constant problems. Events held on many weekends from spring through fall force closure of the boat launch on what are also peak boating weekends, Martin said.

“Establish a new vision for redevelopment of underutilized waterfront properties in floodway” was listed third, referring to the scrapyard on New Wharf Avenue on the east bank of the harbor and the former Shipping Street industrial district a short way down the Thames River.

The problem, Steadman and commission Chairman H. Tucker Braddock said, is that both areas now are designated as floodways on federal flood maps, severely restricting allowed development in both locations.

Blanchette asked if the former Shetucket Iron and Metal scrapyard property had been sold and was upset to learn it had been sold to another scrapyard.

“That’s why Norwich residents are frustrated,” Blanchette said. “You have to do something to get people to come here. I’m so sick of hearing about 10-year-old problems that aren’t getting done.”

Martin, a former alderman, said residents need to take the issue to the City Council and said he tried for two years to persuade city leaders to buy the scrapyard and work to obtain funding for an environmental cleanup.

Current Alderman Samuel Browning, who attended the meeting, said the issue, like many others, is a question of money and whether the city wanted to bond money with interest to purchase the contaminated property.

The Harbor Management Commission is conducting a survey of residents on harbor issues. Braddock said about 100 people have responded thus far to the survey, which is available on the Harbor Management Commission page on the city’s website, www.norwichct.org, and hard copies are available at the city manager’s office and the docent’s booth in City Hall.

c.bessette@theday.com