Anchoring in Northern Lake Worth – Wally Moran
advocate for boaters’ rights, outspoken critic of restrictive laws on boating, author of numerous cruising blogs and frequent contributor to Cruisers Net, Wally Moran regularly hosts seminars, webinars and cruises on the Waterway.
There has been a lot of online chatter recently regarding the anchoring situation in North Lake Worth. The local police were rousting boaters legally anchored from the anchorage, apparently citing Fl § 327.4109 as their justification. The town had also removed a number of unauthorized moorings as a part of its efforts to remove liveaboards and transient cruisers.
When the Cruisers Rights Network of North America – CRNNA – of which I am the president, became aware of what was going on, I immediately contacted the mayor and commissioners of North Palm Beach, within whose jurisdiction this body of water lies, and the Chief of Police.
In brief, my communication advised the recipients that any enforcement of local anchoring legislation was forbidden under FL § 327.60(2)(f), and that the town could be liable to a civil rights prosecution for its enforcement actions.
I also suggested that if they disagreed with me on this, they were free to designate a boat to receive a ticket and we would take the matter up in court:
“…speak with the cities of Gulfport, Naples, Stuart and Miami Beach (among others) to discover what happened to them when they attempted to enforce their own illegal anchoring ordinances and actions with respect to those ordinances and FL § 327.60.”
Two days later, I received a phone call from the North Palm Beach Chief of Police. In an amicable discussion, he advised me that there would be no further enforcement against anchoring in North Lake Worth by his officers, and that anyone who had been inconvenienced would be contacted and an apology would be given.
The town was seemingly within its rights to remove the mooring balls, although there is a question about whether or not they were authorized and/or grandfathered in that may be the subject of civil litigation.
Thus, cruisers may continue to anchor in North Lake Worth with no concerns as to the legality of doing so. Should there be any attempt at enforcement, I would appreciate those involved getting in touch with me so it can be dealt with. However, I do not anticipate this will happen.
On another front, there is currently a proposal for a 5000 foot no anchoring setoff from any seaport in Florida we have seen that may go to the Florida legislature this upcoming session. This proposal, if adopted, has the potential to curtail or end anchoring throughout Florida – St. Augustine, Fernandina Beach, Palm Beach/Lake Worth, Tampa, Miami and Miami Beach and more.
This is a serious, all hands on deck issue and I ask cruisers to be prepared to fight it. I will update CruisersNet readers as I discover more on this issue, and in the meantime, they can follow what is happening at our Facebook page, Saving Florida’s Anchorages,
https://www.facebook.com/groups/savefloridasanchoragesOnce again, thanks to the
Salty Southeast CruisersNet for helping to keep boaters informed of what is going on in our world.
Sincerely,
Wally Moran
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