[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Village of Massapequa
Park 5-22-1967 as Ch. 6 of the 1967 Code. Section 90-11C amended at time of
adoption of Code; see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I. Other amendments
noted where applicable.]
The provisions of this chapter shall apply to all waters or waterways
within or adjacent to the village or subject to its jurisdiction, except when
prohibited by laws of the United States and except the waters or waterways
under the supervision of any other municipality.
All provisions of the Navigation Law of this state, of the inland rules
enacted by Congress and governing the navigation of the inland waters of the
United States and of the Pilot Rules for United States' inland waters applicable
to the channel systems, relative to the rules for vessels passing each other,
as to lights on vessels and other matters consistent with the proper use of
waters and waterways, shall be complied with by all vessels navigating said
waters and waterways under the jurisdiction of the village.
All provisions of the laws of this state and of the United States relative
to the use and operation of aircraft shall be complied with by all seaplanes
navigating and using waterways under the jurisdiction of the village.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings
indicated:
Includes every description of watercraft or other contrivance used
on or capable of being used as a means of transportation in water and/or in
air.
Main channels, cross channels connecting with them, basins and bathing
areas.
A barge or similar craft fitted for use as a dwelling or for leisurely
cruising.
Includes aircraft of every description having attached thereto devices
or contrivances which permit takeoff and landing from or to water.
Every person operating a boat shall at all times operate the same in
a careful and prudent manner and at such rate of speed as not to disturb the
reasonable comfort or endanger the property of another or the life or limb
of any person or so as to interfere with the free and proper use of the waters
within the village. Throwing up a dangerous wake when approaching or passing
another boat shall be prohibited.
No boat except one propelled by hand shall cruise or be operated within
100 feet of any lifelines or bathing float, or if there are no lifelines or
bathing float, then within 200 feet of any beach regularly used for bathing
or swimming, except at inlets or where a channel approaches the lifelines,
bathing float or beach, as the case may be, closer than such applicable distances.
No boat shall be operated at a speed greater than four miles per hour
in any basin, dock anchorage, bathing area, creek, canal or elsewhere in the
waters of the village within 500 feet of the shoreline, nor at a speed greater
than 12 miles per hour elsewhere within 1,500 feet of the shoreline.
The racing of power-driven boats of any type shall be prohibited unless
written permission shall have been received from the Village Board. The application
therefor shall state the time and place of the proposed race or races, the
types of boats participating therein and the type and kind of race to be conducted.
No person shall operate a boat propelled wholly or partly by an engine
operated by gas, gasoline, naphtha, diesel oil or other substance without
having the exhaust from the engine run through a muffler or so controlled
by the introduction of water into the exhaust pipe or line as to muffle the
noise of exhaust in a reasonable manner.
A.
Generally. Boats shall not moor or anchor so as to endanger
the safety of or cause damage to any boat previously anchored or moored, nor
so as to interfere with the mooring of any boat previously laid down, nor
in any case within 50 feet of a channel marker or in such manner as to interfere
with full use of the channel. Not more than two boats shall be docked within
any 100 feet of bulkhead. Boat shall be anchored to the bulkhead in the owner's
name.
B.
Projection. Boats shall be moored at the edge of the
channel and shall be anchored parallel to the bulkhead. No boat shall be moored
on any waterway of the village so that such boat or any part or projection
thereof extends into the waterway more than 1/4 of the width of such waterway
as measured between the mean low-water lines along the waterway at the point
or place such boat is moored.
C.
Applicability. Subsection B above shall apply only to such points or places along the waterways within the village less than 100 feet in width as measured from the mean high-water line at the point or place to the closest point or place along the mean high-water line of the opposite bank, shore or bulkhead.
D.
Removal. Any boats moored or anchored in violation of
this section shall be removed by the owner or person in charge thereof on
order of the Village Board or any duly authorized officer or agent thereof.
If said boat is not removed after orders to so remove it, it may be removed
by or at the discretion of the Village Board or any duly authorized officer
or agent thereof at the expense of the owner or person in charge of said vessel.
E.
Rental. It shall be unlawful to rent space for the mooring
of boats.
A.
License required. No person shall moor or anchor any
houseboat or similar craft within village waters for a period of more than
48 hours without having obtained a license therefor, after having filed an
application and otherwise complying with the provisions of this chapter. Such
license shall be renewed weekly.
B.
Inspection. Inspection of every such craft shall be made
upon orders of the Mayor, and if the applicant's use of maritime waters would,
in the Mayor's opinion, endanger the safety, good order, morals or welfare
of the community, the Mayor shall refuse to issue a license.
No piles shall be installed in a Residential AA Zone unless authorized
by the Board of Trustees.
A.
Restricted. No seaplane shall take off or land upon any
waters or waterways under the jurisdiction of the village and within 500 feet
of the shoreline except in case of an emergency.
B.
Scope of section. For the purposes of this section, the
term "emergency" shall mean a situation or circumstance endangering any person.
Any vessel which becomes a menace to navigation or unseaworthy or sinks,
grounds or becomes otherwise disabled shall be removed by the owner or person
in charge thereof on order of the Village Board or any duly authorized officer
or agent thereof. If said boat is not removed after order to so remove it,
it may be removed by or at the direction of the Village Board or any duly
authorized officer or agent thereof at the expense of the owner or person
in charge of said vessel.
A.
Water skiing, aquaplaning or similar sports are hereby
prohibited in any waters within the village or within 500 feet of the shoreline.
B.
No skin diving shall be undertaken in any waterway under
the jurisdiction of the village where the same may interfere with the reasonable
and proper operation of vessels or within 200 feet of any beach regularly
used for bathing or swimming or within 100 feet of any person bathing or swimming.
No person shall use or discharge under water any spear gun or similar
apparatus within 200 feet of any beach regularly used for bathing or swimming
or within 100 feet of any bather or swimmer.
Nothing herein contained shall prohibit the Village Board from issuing
special permits for aquatic events, boat races or similar events, under proper
supervision, in limited areas and for limited periods.
A.
Duty. The owner, lessee or occupant of waterfront property
shall keep the same clean and in good repair, and he shall keep the waters
adjacent thereto properly dredged in order not to constitute a menace to navigation
or to the health and well-being of the community.
B.
Inspections; notices. Regular inspection shall be made
by village officials of waterfront properties, their structures and appurtenances
to determine their condition and methods of operation. If defects or violations
of law or ordinances are found upon such inspection, notice shall be served
upon the owner, lessee or occupant to correct the same in the manner specified
in the notice. Failure to comply therewith shall constitute a violation of
this section.
Dumping of oil, refuse, garbage, grass cuttings or similar landscaping
waste or any other offensive materials into any of the waters within the village
shall be prohibited, whether such dumping is from boats or vessels or from
land.
The Police Department of the County of Nassau is hereby empowered to
enforce the provisions of this chapter, and every person in charge of a vessel
or seaplane navigating or using waterways under the jurisdiction of the village
shall at all times obey the lawful orders of the members of said Police Department.
Such Department shall have the right to stop any vessel or seaplane navigating
or using said waterways for the purpose of enforcing this chapter.
