As used in this chapter, the following words or phrases shall have the meanings annexed to each:
BUILDING DEPARTMENT
The Department of Building and Safety Inspection and Enforcement of the Town of North Hempstead.
BULKHEAD
Any structure, except a building, positioned adjacent to the shore, the primary function of which is to retain soil or other material from eroding into a waterway or to protect the land from wave damage.
CHANNEL
A federal, state or Town or locally designated navigation accessway.
COMMERCIAL MOORING
A mooring used by a commercial entity or one providing a mooring for hire in conjunction with a marine commercial use.
COMMISSIONER OF BUILDING
The person designated by the Town Board as the Commissioner of Building, Safety Inspection and Enforcement.
COMMISSIONER OF PLANNING
The person designated by the Town Board as the Commissioner of Planning and Environmental Protection.
COMMISSIONER OF PUBLIC SAFETY
The person designated by the Town Board as the Commissioner of Public Safety.
DATUM PLANE
The mean sea level or average height of the sea in accordance with Nassau County Datum.
DIRECTOR OF HARBOR AND MARINE ENFORCEMENT
The person designated by the Commissioner of Public Safety as the manager of the Division of Harbor and Marine Enforcement.
DOCK
Any permanent or seasonal structure extending over the water's surface, except a building connected to a bulkhead or the upland, which is designed to secure vessels and provide access from the shore to a body of water. The term includes the terms "wharves," "piers," "fixed docks," "floating docks," or "floats."
FAIRWAY
A federal, state or Town designated navigation accessway.
FIXED DOCK
A dock that is generally anchored, to pilings, to the underwater land and that allows for the flow of water beneath the decking.
FLOAT
Any structure, buoyant on the water surface, affixed and secured in place to the shore, a bulkhead or a dock, whose purpose is to berth and secure vessels and provide a means of access to and from the shore. The term "float" includes a floating dock.
FLOATING STRUCTURE
Any structure buoyant on the water surface, in fact used, designed or occupied as a dwelling unit, business office or source of any occupation or for any private or social club of whatsoever nature, including but not limited to a structure constructed upon a barge primarily immobile and out of navigation, which functions substantially as a land structure while the same is moored or docked within the municipal limits of the Town of North Hempstead, whether such vessel is self-propelled or not.
GUEST MOORING
A mooring to be used on a temporary basis by a guest of a yacht club.
GUEST VESSEL
Any vessel owned or chartered by a person who does not hold a current mooring permit issued by the Town, which vessel is temporarily moored as provided in this chapter.
LIGHTHOUSE
Any tower or other structure used to display or flash a bright light and/or audible signal for the guidance of vessels in avoiding dangerous areas located within the geographical boundaries of the Town of North Hempstead.
LOT
A parcel of land, coincident with a lot or lots shown on a map of record, filed in the Nassau County Clerk's office.
MARINA
A dock or a commercial mooring area, operated for profit or to which public patronage is invited, providing mooring or docking facilities for boats or vessels within the area of the Town of North Hempstead.
MARINE COMMERCIAL USE
A use that serves a marina, fuel dock, commercial mooring facility, barge or tanker terminal, boat rental or leasing facility, commercial fishing loading/off-loading facility or other structure designed to secure or makefast a commercially operated vessel.
MEAN HIGH WATER
The line on the shore established by the average of the height of the diurnal high water at a particular location measured over a lunar cycle of 19 years.
MEAN LOW WATER
The line on the shore established by the average of the height of the diurnal low water at a particular location measured over a lunar cycle of 19 years.
MOORING
The attachment of a vessel to the underwater land by means of mooring tackle so designed that, when such attachment is terminated, some portion of the tackle remains attached to the underwater land and is not taken under the control of the vessel.
MOORING PERMIT
A permit issued to install or maintain a mooring.
MOORING PILE
A pole or post secured to the underwater land, protruding above the water surface, the sole purpose of which is to secure a vessel(s).
MOORING TACKLE
The hardware used to secure a vessel at mooring.
MULTIFAMILY RESIDENTIAL USE
A residential land use involving four or more living units or homes.
NAVIGABLE WATER
A waterway having a depth of at least four feet at mean low water.
NONMARINE COMMERCIAL USE
A commercial land use other than a marine commercial use.
PERIMETER
Imaginary lines that define an area on a plan, map, chart or other diagram drawn generally perpendicular and parallel to the shore or the lines of designating channels that encompass all related structures or moorings that function together to create a component of an upland facility or use.
PERIMETER MOORING PERMIT
A permit issued for use of an approved mooring field within a prescribed perimeter for multifamily residential, marine commercial, nonmarine commercial or yacht club uses.
PERIMETER STRUCTURE RECONFIGURATION PERMIT
A permit issued to construct, maintain, erect, enlarge, install, alter, improve, remove or demolish a structure or series of structures within a prescribed perimeter which either is or is to be adjacent to upland for marine commercial or yacht club uses.
PERMIT
A written authorization to conduct an activity regulated by this chapter. The term "permit" shall include a renewal permit.
PERSON
Any individual, partnership, corporation, association or any other legal entity.
PILE or SPILE
An individual or grouping of poles or posts, secured to underwater land, protruding above the water surface, the sole purpose of which is to secure a dock(s), float(s) or other such structures. The pile or spile should be considered ancillary to the structure(s).
PLATFORM
A horizontal surface structure which extends out from land adjacent to a waterway and is cantilevered or held in place by pilings, designed to gain access to a ramp or float.
RAMP
A structure used to gain access from a bulkhead, fixed dock or platform to a float.
SEASON
The time between April 1 and November 30 of the same calendar year.
SLIP
The berthing place for a single vessel alongside the shore or structural installation.
STRUCTURE
Includes but is not limited to a dock, pier, bulkhead, wharf, float or series of floats, platform, boom revetment, jetty, utility line, permanently moored vessel, aid to navigation or any fixture or appurtenance extending under, to, over or into the navigable waters or the waterways as defined herein, which is intended or may be used or is capable of being used for access to a waterway or vessels on a waterway or for the berthing of vessels.
STRUCTURE PERMIT
A permit issued to construct, maintain, erect, enlarge, install, alter, improve, remove or demolish a structure which either is or is to be adjacent to upland residential, multifamily residential, marine commercial, nonmarine commercial or yacht club uses.
SWIMMING FLOAT
Any structure buoyant on the water surface and moored to the bottom, used for swimming, diving, snorkeling, scuba diving and other related activities.
TOWN
The Town of North Hempstead.
TOWN ATTORNEY
The Town Attorney of the Town of North Hempstead.
TOWN BOARD
The Town Board of the Town of North Hempstead.
TOWN CLERK
The Town Clerk of the Town of North Hempstead.
UPLAND
Area landward of the mean high water line as defined by the Nassau County Datum Plane.
VESSEL
Every description of watercraft used or capable of being used as a means of transportation on water.
WATER-DEPENDENT STRUCTURE
Any structure in, on or over the waterway, utilized primarily in connection with a water-dependent use.
WATER-DEPENDENT USE
An activity or use requiring direct access to water which can be conducted only on, in, over or adjacent to Town waterways, which involves, as an integral part of such activity, the use of waterways, and which therefore cannot be located inland.
WATERFRONT ADVISORY COMMISSION
An advisory committee appointed by the Town Board.
WATERWAY
All waters within the geographical limits of the Town of North Hempstead or otherwise subject to its jurisdiction.
YACHT CLUB
Any not-for-profit membership-based organization whose primary purpose is the facilitation of boating and boating-related activities by its members.