OUR WATERWAYS
Our Waterways Section
SOUTHWINDS has created this section to inform our readers about changes in our waterways. We are all in the midst of great change—through the conversion of many boating properties to condominiums, restrictions on anchorages, and other economic forces at work. Our coastal waters and our waterways belong to all of us, and all of us have a right to use them. These waters are not just for those who live on the water, and it is up to us boaters and lovers of these waters to protect that right. We hope that by helping to inform you of these changes, we will contribute to doing just that. We are looking for news and information on changes, land sales, anchorages, boaters’ rights, new marinas, anchoring rights, disappearing marinas, boatyards and boat ramps, environmental concerns and other related news. Contact Steve Morrell, editor@southwindsmagazine.com, or call (941) 795-8704
Marco Island Anchoring Ordinance Tossed, Oct. 25 By Morgan Stinemetz If you do any cruising, sail or power, you’ll like this one. A county judge in Collier County handed the City Council of Marco Island a defeat on Thursday, October 25. Judge Rob Crown struck down a Marco Island law that limited the amount of time boats were allowed to anchor in city waterways. Any “local regulation regarding the anchoring of nonlive-aboard vessels outside mooring fields is expressly prohibited by state law,” Judge Crown wrote in his decision. “If (the city) believes there are circumstances that justify exceptions to
this general prohibition, then those circumstances should be conveyed to the Legislature. In the meantime, municipalities are not free to carve out those exceptions on their own.” The case was heard in front of Judge Crown on October 12, and it drew a slew of experts and wannabe experts to Naples. The hearing went on for eight-and-a-half hours before everyone had his say. The legal challenge to the ordinance was promulgated by Dave Dumas, a trawler owner, who intentionally broke the law in January 2007 and was subsequently ticketed by Marco Island cops. Dumas had broken the law by anchoring for more than 12 hours and within 300 feet of the shoreline. The ordinance also limited boaters to a minimum 300 feet from land. It was passed in April 2006 after years of acrimony between boaters’ groups and Marco waterfront property owners, who argued for an ordinance based on health, safety and welfare concerns. As with most issues between “boaters’ rights” and “homeowners’ rights,” this contretemps in Marco Island had a lot more heat than light connected to it. I have been given to understand that the “homeowners” group found a derelict vessel that had been aground on a mud flat for a very long time and made it (and its very gnarly, bearded owner) a poster child for a “what can happen—if” point of view. The Marco ordinance kicked in at 12 hours, which, for most people traveling up and down the waterway, is certainly not enough time to ride out bad weather or just stay still until one feels like moving on. Transient facilities in the Naples area are on the skinny side anyway, so hanging out on the hook until rested or until the weather clears may be the only viable option. The state statute governing a municipality’s right to regulate anchoring of vessels in transit is explicit, though. It says “…local governmental authorities are prohibited from regulating the anchoring outside of such mooring fields of non-live-aboard vessels in navigation.” The city of Marco
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December 2007
SOUTHWINDS
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