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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance 89-46 ORDINANCE NO. 89-46 CITY OF OCOEE . AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF OCOEE, FLORIDA, ESTABLISHING THE OCOEE BOATING CODE WHICH ESTABLISHES BOATING REGULATIONS FOR BOATING ACTIVITY ON VARIOUS WATERWAYS LOCATED IN WHOLE OR IN PART WITHIN THE CITY LIMITS; PROVIDING FOR DEFINITIONS, REGULATIONS, AND PENALTIES WITH RESPECT TO THE OCOEE BOATING CODE; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY; PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. WHEREAS, the City of Ocoee has several major lakes either wholly or in part within its City limits; and WHEREAS, the City of Ocoee currently enforces federal and state laws governing activity on these waterways; and WHEREAS, the City Commission of the City of Ocoee desires to establish municipal regulations on boating activity on these waterways; and WHEREAS, the City of Ocoee desires to promote safer and cleaner lake environments; NOW THEREFORE, BE IT ENACTED BY THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF OCOEE, FLORIDA, AS FOLLOWS: Section One. Short Title and Authority. A. This Ordinance shall be known and may be cited as the "Ocoee Boating Code". B. The City commission of the City of Ocoee has the authority to adopt this Ordinance pursuant to Article VIII of the Constitution of the State of Florida, Chapters 163 and 166, Florida Statutes, and section 327.22, Florida Statutes. section Two. Intent and PurDose. The purpose of the Ocoee Boating Code is stated in the foregoing preamble, which is hereby incorporated by reference as though fully set forth herein. Section Three. The following Chapter of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Ocoee, Florida, is hereby created and reads as follows: . SECTION 1. Definitions. For the purposes of this chapter, the following words and phrases shall have the meanings set forth below: (a) Aquaplaning shall mean operating a boat in such a fashion that the boat leaves the water or skips across the water. (b) Boat or watercraft shall mean all rafts, canoes, rowboats, sailboards, sailboats, motorboats, jet skis, and every other device used or capable of being used as a means of transportation on water. Page 2 Boating Ordinance (c) Bow riding shall mean the placement of passengers on the front of the boat where such a boat is not built or suitable for that purpose. (d) Gunwhale riding shall mean having a person extended from the boat by means of a strap while the boat is in motion. . (e) Motorboats shall mean any watercraft which is propelled or powered by any machinery, and which is used or is capable of being used as a means of transportation on water (Section 327.02(15), Florida Statutes), including jet skis. (f) Operator shall mean any person driving or in charge of or having immediate control over a boat, whether such person is the owner, a permittee, or an unauthorized user. (g) Port shall mean the left-hand side of a boat or personal watercraft looking at the boat facing forward. (h) Starboard shall mean the right-hand side of a boat or personal watercraft looking at the boat facing forward. (i) Waterway shall mean any waters, lake, canal, stream, or connecting waters, whether natural or manmade, partially or wholly within the boundaries of the City of Ocoee, including but not limited to the Ocoee lakes. (j) Ocoee lakes or lakes shall mean and refer only to the following lakes located wholly or partially within the City of Ocoee: Lake Blanchard, Lake Johio, Lake Lilly, Lake Lotta, Lake Meadow, Lake Moxie, Lake Olympia, Lake Peach, Lake Pearl, Lake Prima Vista, Lake Stanley, prairie Lake, Spring Lake, and Starke Lake. All definitions contained within Section 327.02, Florida Statutes, are hereby incorporated herein by reference, except to the extent that they are inconsistent with this Chapter. SECTION 2. Use of Motorboats Limited or Prohibited on certain Lakes. No motorboats of any kind shall be allowed on Lake Peach or Lake Moxie. Only boats with electric motors and non-powered boats shall be allowed on Spring Lake. (Jet skis are prohibited on Spring Lake.) No motorboat with a motor capable of generating more than ten (10) horsepower shall be allowed on those portions of Lake Blanchard and Lake Lotta which lie within the city of Ocoee. Motorboats capable of generating more than ten (10) horsepower shall only be allowed on Starke Lake, Lake Prima Vista, and Lake Olympiq. . SECTION 3. General Operation of Boats. The following shall be applicable to the operator of any boat on waterways and any passengers and occupants of such boats: (a) Motorboats or boats under power shall keep at least three hundred (300) feet behind any boat towing a skier, and shall stay clear of any boat anchored or used for fishing by at least one hundred (100) feet. (b) No person shall operate any boat recklessly, nor overload any boat, indulge in any unauthorized motorboat race, or make sudden turns at excessive speed, follow too closely to other boats, or operate any boat in any way so that it may endanger other boats, life, or property. - Page 3 Boating Ordinance (c) All boat operators shall sit within the confines of the boat and shall insure that their passengers do likewise. Bow riding and gunwhale riding are prohibited. Care shall be taken by the operators of all motorboats to prevent damage from their wash or bow wave, or from objects towed by such boats to beached or moored boats, docks, piers, shorelines, and boathouses. . (d) No person shall operate any watercraft without the state of Florida registration number and decal being affixed prominently on said watercraft. (e) No person shall operate any watercraft, including jet skis, within three hundred (300) feet of any persons in the water. (f) with boats under power, an overtaking boat shall pass leaving the other boat on the starboard hand of the overtaking boat. Boats approaching each other from opposite directions on parallel or nearly parallel course shall pass port to port. (g) When boats are approaching on a collision course, the one which has the other on port hand shall maintain course at a safe speed. Boats proceeding in the same direction shall not pass in the canals. (h) Canoes, rowboats, and sailboats shall have the right-of-way when approached, passed, or overtaken by motorboats or boats under power. (i) Whenever boats must pass within a canal in a constricted area, the boat nearest a passing area shall return to that area to effect the passing. All boats intending entrance to a canal shall yield the right-of-way to boats making an exit. In the event there is a passing area closer than the exit, the boat in the canal shall return or remain in that area to effect the passing. SECTION 4. Launching of Boats. It shall be unlawful for any person to place any boat upon the publicly owned shoreline or publicly owned land surrounding any lake for the purpose of launching that boat, except where a public boat launching facility is provided. All public boat launching areas will be posted as such by the City. SECTION 5. Speed of Boats. (a) It shall be unlawful to operate any boat one hundred (100) feet from the shoreline at such speed as will cause a wake. In the canals, motorboats shall be operated at idle speed which will not create a wash or wave. . (b) Motorboats in the near proximity of boats not under power shall operate at a safe reduced speed which will not create a wash or wave which would endanger the occupants of boats not under power. Boats not under power shall include both nonpowered boats and motorboats not under power, including those which are anchored or being used for fishing. (c) The speed of boats shall in no case exceed forty (40) miles per hour during daylight hours, and twenty (20) miles per hour between sunset and sunrise. SECTION 6. Required Equipment. (a) safety Equipment. All boats shall carry the safety equipment required by section 327.50, Florida Statutes. Each child under the age of ten (10) years old who is a passenger in a boat shall wear . . Page 4 Boating Ordinance a Coast Guard approved lifesaving device at all times. All people who are engaged in waterskiing, jetskiing, or being towed by a boat for any other purpose shall wear a Coast Guard approved lifesaving device at all times. (b) Lights. It shall be unlawful to operate any boat between the hours of sunset and sunrise unless provided with proper lights in accordance with Section 327.50, Florida Statutes. Search lights shall not be used indiscriminantely or in such a manner as to annoy or disturb other persons or boats. (c) MUffling, venting, and Backfire Control Devices. The exhaust of every internal combustion engine used on any boat shall be effectively muffled by equipment so constructed and used as to muffle the noise of the exhaust in a reasonable manner. The use of cutouts is prohibited, except for vessels competing in a regatta or official boat race, and for such vessels while on trial runs. Inboard motorboats shall have proper venting and backfire flamecontrol devices. (d) Protective Bumpers. Where conditions or size of any boat is such that undue contact may be made with the canal retaining walls, such boats shall not enter the canals unless they are equipped with adequate protective guards or bumpers so as to prevent damage to the walls. (e) Audible warning Devices. All power boats shall carry a whistle or horn audible up to three hundred (300) feet. SECTION 7. Water Sports. (a) All water sports such as water skiing, surfboarding, boardsailing, aquaplaning, sledding, tubing, jet skiing, etc. are hereby prohibited from sunset through sunrise. (b) Skiers, personal watercraft, surfboarders, aquaplaners, sledders, or tubers, where practicable, shall take turns in a counter clockwise direction. No person shall ski, surfboard, aquaplane, sled, tube, or operate a personal watercraft, nor shall any boat towing such skier, surfboarder, aquaplaner, sledder, or tuber, navigate between safety buoys and shorline except when making a direct take off or landing. Such persons as above are prohibited from using buoys as slalom markers. All water skiers, surfboarders, aquaplaners, sledders, tubers, and operators and riders of personal watercraft must be equipped with and wear a united States Coast Guard approved personal flotation device in conformance with current united States Coast Guard safety requirements except when engaged in pOlice-sanctioned races, contests, or regattas. A special permit may be issued by the Ocoee Police Department allowing persons preparing to participate in an official regatta, race, tournament, or exhibition to practice trick water skiing without personal flotation devices. Any such person desiring to practice trick water skiing without a personal flotation device shall submit a letter of application to the Ocoee Police Department, detailing the particular type of trick water skiing, the official event(s) for which practice is intended and approved by the coach or trainer of the applicant. Every skier shall have his special permit in his immediate possession or in the towing boat at all times when skiing without a personal flotation device and shall display the same upon demand. The special permit shall be valid only for trick water skiing in Starke Lake and Lake Olympia. No person shall manipulate any water ski, surfboard, aquaplane, sled, tube, or similar device from a boat while under the influence of alcohol or any controlled or chemical substance to the extent that his or her normal faculties are impaired. Page 5 Boating Ordinance . SECTION 8. Regattas, Crew Races, Etc. Authority is hereby granted to the Ocoee Police Department to regulate and direct the conduct and operation of any regatta, crew race, or other aquatic activity. Persons sponsoring regattas, races, or other contests shall provide adequate traffic control at their expense as may be required by the Ocoee Police Department, and shall notify the Ocoee Police Department at least ten (10) days prior to any event in order that appropriate arrangements for safety and navigation may be assured. SECTION 9. Hang gliding, Parachuting, parasailing, and Airboating Prohibited. Hang gliding, parachuting, parasailing, and airboating are prohibited on Ocoee lakes; provided, however, that a special permit may be issued by the city manager for such activities in conj unction with special events approved by the ci ty Manager. Persons desiring to sponsor such activities shall submit a letter of application to the Ocoee Police Department. SECTION 10. Any person seeking a permit or license pursuant to Sections 8 and 9 hereof, or for any activity in which a permit or waiver is otherwise required under the provisions of this Chapter, shall, in addition to any other permitting or licensing requirements, execute a liability release in favor of the City of Ocoee, in which the applicant waives any claim which he may have against the City of Ocoee, its employees, agents and contractors, arising out of or related to any of the activities covered by the permit or license, and agreeing to indemnify and hold the City of Ocoee harmless for any losses or claims arising from such activities. The City Manager may require that the applicant provide the City with evidence of insurance naming the City as an additional insured in such amounts as may be determined by the City Manager. Failure to execute the liability release and, if applicable, provide the evidence of insurance, shall result in denial of the requested permit or license. SECTION 11. Use of Lakes as Landing Places for Seaplanes Prohibited; Exception. It shall be unlawful for any person or persons to use the Ocoee lakes as a regular landing place or base of operations for seaplanes; provided, however, that nothing herein contained shall be construed to prohibit the use of the Ocoee lakes by such planes in the case of an emergency. SECTION 12. Maximum Horsepower and Capacity. . All motorboat operators must comply with the maximum horsepower and maximum occupany capacity as stated on the manufacturer's capacity plate of that boat. SECTION 13. Boats Adrift to be Secured and Reported to Police. Any person finding a boat adrift shall secure it at a safe moorage and report such finding to the Ocoee Police Department as soon as possible. All such adrift, abandoned or grounded vessels shall constitute a public nuisance. within seven (7) days of notification by the Ocoee Police Department, the owner of any such vessel shall abate the nuisance. In the event the owner fails or Page 6 Boating Ordinance refuses to abate said nuisance,. the City of Ocoee may take whatever action it deems appropriate to abate the nuisance, and the owner of the vessel shall be liable for all costs and expenses associated therewith. SECTION 14. Molesting or Disturbing a Boat or its Contents. . It shall be unlawful for any person to molest, tamper with, damage, destroy, trespass upon, or cast loose or set adrift any boat or boats belonging to another, or to disturb, destroy, steal, take, or carry away any of the contents, fixtures, or appurtenances of any boat belonging to another, or to cause a dangerous wake when approaching another boat. SECTION 15. Operating a Boat Prohibited While Under the Influence of Alcohol or a Controlled Substance. No person shall operate a boat while under the influence of alcohol or any controlled or chemical substance to the extent that his or her normal faculties are impaired. For the purposes of this chapter, "impairment" shall have the same meaning as it does under Sections 327.35 and 327.351, Florida Statutes. SECTION 16. Temporary Obstructions to be Lighted. It shall be unlawful for any person to leave or permit any boat, barge, dredge, temporary dock or pier, or any other temporary obstruction, to be left extending further than twenty (20) feet from the shoreline, or to anchor any float, buoy or other hazard more than forty (40) feet from the shoreline between the hours of sunset and sunrise, unless such boat, barge, dredge, buoy, or other temporary obstruction is properly lighted to show its overall length. SECTION 17. Hazards to and Interference with Navigation. Any person having knowledge of any hazardous object adrift or any underwater obstruction which would endanger the safe navigation of any boat shall report the location and nature of such hazard or obstruction to the Ocoee Police Department as soon as possible. Likewise, no person shall anchor or operate a boat in a manner which constitutes a navigational hazard or interferes with another boat. Anchoring in heavily travelled channels shall constitute interference if unreasonable under the prevailing circumstances. For the purposes of this chapter, "unreasonable under the prevailing circumstances" shall have the same meaning as it does under section 327.44, Florida Statutes. SECTION 18. Damage to Channel Markers, Buoys, etc., Unlawful; . Report. It shall be unlawful for any person to remove, damage, or destroy any channel markers, buoys, speed limit signs, or directional signals maintained by the city in or about any of the waterways within the corporate city limits. Any person injuring or damaging any channel markers, buoys, docks, etc. or involved in any collision or upset with any other craft shall report such incident to the Ocoee police Department as soon as possible. SECTION 19. Automobiles, Trucks, and Other Vehicles Prohibited. All automobiles, trucks, and other vehicles are hereby prohibited from entering any waterways in Ocoee. Page 7 Boating Ordinance SECTION 20. Federal and State Laws; Applicability. All boats operating on or about the waterways within the corporate boundaries of the City of Ocoee shall be subject to federal and state laws and regulations relating thereto and the provisions of this Chapter; provided, however, that the provisions of this chapter shall be supplementary and in addition to any federal, state, and county laws, ordinances, and regulations on this . subj ect. SECTION 21. Penalties. Any person violating any provl.sl.on of this chapter shall be punished as provided in section 1-8 of this Code and as otherwise provided under state law. SECTION 22. Police to Enforce Ordinance. The Ocoee Police Department shall enforce the regulations contained in this chapter. SECTION 23. Hold Harmless Agreement. As a condition of obtaining those permits discussed in Sections 8 and 9 hereof, all persons shall hold harmless the city of Ocoee from and against any and all claims, including but not limited to, attorney's fees, costs, and damages incurred as a result of participating in any water sports within the city limits of Ocoee. section Four. Severability. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, or portion of this chapter is for any reason held invalid or unconstitutional by any court of competent jurisdiction, such portion shall be deemed a separate, distinct, and independent provision and such holding shall not affect the validity of the remaining portion hereof. section Five. Effective Date. This Ordinance shall become effective immediately upon its passage and adoption by the City Commission. Lti _F"" P-> ~ IA A-I<-~ r't'1 () PASSED AND ADOPTED this day of , -*9-&9 . Advertised November 23 , 1989. Read First Time November 21 , 1989. . Time and Adopted February 6 l'1'io Read Second , ~. Approved: CITY OF OCOEE, FLORIDA BY~. ster Dabbs, Jr., aY~ .' . Page 8 Boating Ordinance ATTEST: J~~~~O~~rk ( SEAL) FOR USE AND THE CITY OF APPROVED AS RELIANCE ONLY BY OCOEE, FLORIDA. TO FORM AND LEGALITY: G.L fI'le) DAY OF tolClY)rVOJ'1 ' 19-8-9T Gay, THIS 6* Foley & Lardner, Van Den Berg, Burke, Wilson, & Arkin VJez ~ City Attorney By: APPROVED BY THE OCOEE CITY COMMISSION AT A MEETING HELD ON f",atLl4-t.-1.( t..'19Cfo UNDER AGENDA ITEM V])