The excellent coverage of the anchoring legislative issues in Florida by Mike Ahart of Waterway Guide continues with this notice and editorial published this week. It is reprinted with permission.

Florida House to hold anchoring regulation public workshop in October
Region: General
Date Reported: Sep 15, 2015
Reported By: Mike Ahart, News Editor
Source: Florida House of Representatives

Many cruisers celebrated this spring when the Florida Legislature completed its session without passing a law restricting anchoring; however, we all knew the subject would rise again this year. At the time, stakeholders had agreed to work over the summer on solutions that hopefully could balance the wants, needs, and rights of boaters, waterfront homeowners, businesses and other groups.

A number of workshops on how to solve the derelict, abandoned, and “at-risk” vessel problems were held in August by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), but the focus was on creating registration and titling regulations to assure that an owner of a problem vessel can be held accountable for clean-up and removal.

Now, the Florida House of Representatives plans to explore anchoring restrictions ‘“ a public workshop in Tallahassee is slated to be held sometime during the week of October 5-9, 2015. This workshop’s focus is squarely on whether to restrict anchoring in public waters adjacent to waterfront residences, according to an email from the Chair of the State Affairs Committee or the Florida House of Representatives:

The State Affairs Committee of the Florida House of Representatives will hold a public workshop during the interim committee week of October 5-9, for the purpose of taking testimony on the following questions: Should the Legislature enact new laws to address conflicts between landowners and boaters who anchor near the landowners’ property? If so, what approach should the Legislature take? Is the establishment of setbacks, which prohibit vessels from anchoring or mooring within a certain distance from the shoreline or seawalls, a viable approach?

The specific date and time of the meeting will be announced at least a week prior to the meeting. Interested parties are encouraged to attend the workshop and participate. However, large groups are encouraged to designate one person to testify on behalf of the group.

Questions regarding the workshop should be directed to:

John Love, Administrative Assistant
State Affairs Committee
John.Love@myfloridahouse.gov
(850) 717-4890

Thank you in advance for participating in this important discussion.

Respectfully,

Matt Caldwell, Chair
State Affairs Committee
Florida House of Representatives

One more note: This past spring, boating enthusiasts and advocates organized to developed a strong yet civil message to legislators to help them understand how anchoring restrictions might negatively affect cruisers, civic groups, municipalities, and marine and waterway businesses. Threats and bad conduct ‘“ online or otherwise ‘“ often negatively affects the outcome of a cause. Think you might be able to participate in the Tallahassee workshop? Please send me an email.

Stay tuned to WaterwayGuide.com for updates.