[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Meeting of the Town of Cohasset
as Art. IX of the 1988 General Bylaws. Amendments noted where applicable.]
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
Includes every type of watercraft used or capable of being
used as a means of transportation on water, other than a seaplane.
An individual or entity having legal ownership of a boat.
[Amended 4-6-1991]
Consists of the body of water lying inside a straight line
projected across the channel from White Head Dolphin at Long's Point
to White Rock and shall not include the channel extending seaward
beyond that point, but shall specifically include all waters within
the Town of Cohasset lying west and south of the Border Street Bridge
known as "the Gulf."
[Amended 7-17-2000]
Includes the Harbor Master, Assistant Harbor Master, and
Deputy Harbor Masters, all duly appointed by the Board of Selectmen.
Natural person.
The length overall from the fixed most forward point of the
boat or its extremities to the point furthest aft, including, without
limitation, parts affixed to the boat such as bow pulpits, bowsprits,
boomkins, mizzen booms, rudders, swim platforms, and outboard motors
in raised position.
An individual or entity holding a valid mooring permit.
Having regard for the lives and safety of the public, state
of visibility, traffic density, maneuverability of vessels, state
of the wind, current, and water and the current Rules of the Road.
A swimmer using fins, masks, snorkel tubes, or self-contained
underwater breathing apparatus.
Shall refer to a skiff or dinghy used to transport individuals
or property from shore to a boat moored within Cohasset Harbor.
A.
Permit.
(1)
An approved mooring permit (hereinafter "permit") from the Harbor
Master is required for installation of mooring tackle for any boat,
float, or lobster car/pound within the limits of Cohasset Harbor.
The application for a permit shall be that prescribed by the Board
of Selectmen on the form titled "Application for Mooring Location,"
dated April 1985, as revised from time to time.
(2)
No permit shall be issued to a corporation, trust, partnership, joint
venture, or other entity nor shall a permit be held in joint tenancy,
tenancy in common, or other form of joint ownership; provided, however,
that permits shall continue to be issued from year to year in accordance
with all provisions of these bylaws and regulations promulgated by
the Harbor Master to those entities currently holding permits which
operate clubs or marine-related businesses adjacent to Cohasset Harbor.
[Amended 12-11-1996]
(3)
The Harbor Master shall issue or deny a request for a permit within
15 days of the date of application. The Harbor Master shall keep accurate
records and books and shall issue a signed copy of the "Application
for Mooring Location" on file in the office of the Harbor Master for
all boat owners with an assigned mooring location.
(4)
The "Application for Mooring Location" shall contain such information
as required by the Harbor Master. The Harbor Master shall ensure that
a signed copy of the "Application for Mooring Location" is on file
in the office of the Harbor Master for all boat owners with an assigned
mooring location.
(5)
Once issued no mooring permit shall be renewed unless the boat owner
has regularly moored his boat in Cohasset Harbor during the preceding
year and has paid an excise tax on his boat to the Town of Cohasset.
If the boat owner wishes to remove his boat from Cohasset Harbor for
a period of seven days, the Harbor Master must be notified in advance
of such removal.
(6)
All mooring tackle shall be constructed in accordance with the "Mooring
Specifications for Cohasset Harbor," as revised from time to time
by the Harbor Master (hereinafter called the "specifications") and
on file with the Harbor Master, and shall not be set or moved without
first being inspected by and the move approved by the Harbor Master.
(7)
No boat with a length overall in excess of 45 feet shall be assigned
a mooring location or slip in Cohasset Harbor.
(8)
Mooring locations shall not be sold, bequeathed, transferred, swapped,
bartered, rented or leased. In the event of the death of a mooring
holder, the Harbor Master shall offer to assign the mooring location
to the deceased mooring holder's surviving spouse. The surviving spouse
shall have 90 days after receipt of the written offer from the Harbor
Master in which to accept, by written response, such assignment. If
the assignment is not accepted in writing within such ninety-day period,
the mooring location shall be reassigned in accordance with these
bylaws and regulations governing Cohasset Harbor. The Harbor Master
shall make the written offer to the surviving spouse as soon as reasonably
practicable after learning of the deceased mooring holder's death.
Upon the death of the surviving spouse, the mooring location shall
revert to the Town of Cohasset.
(9)
No individual or entity may be assigned more than one mooring. The
mooring location assigned is restricted to the boat assigned to that
location, and no other boat may occupy that location without the permission
of the Harbor Master.
(10)
A mooring location waiting list shall be maintained by the Harbor
Master, using the date on the "Application for Mooring Location" as
the basis for position on the list. All persons must reaffirm their
position on the waiting list by April 1 of each year with the Harbor
Master. If a person fails to reaffirm his or her position on the waiting
list by April 1, the Harbor Master shall send such person a notice
by certified mail ("notice") of such failure to reaffirm and thereafter,
upon reaffirmation and payment of a fine within 15 days of the receipt
of the notice, the person shall be entitled to maintain his or her
position on the waiting list. A record of the reaffirmation shall
be kept on the "Application for Mooring Location" form on file with
the Harbor Master. Persons not reaffirming on or before April 1 in
each year or within the fifteen-day grace period shall be removed
from the list. The Selectmen shall from time to time set the fine
for failure to reaffirm on the mooring list prior to April 1.
[Amended 11-16-1992]
(a)
Those persons or entities holding permits from the Harbor Master
to install mooring tackle and moor their boats in Cohasset Harbor
shall pay a mooring fee and receive a decal by April 1 of each year.
Upon failure to pay the mooring fee, the Harbor Master shall remove
the individual's or entity's mooring tackle from the harbor at the
expense of the individual or entity failing to pay the mooring fee.
(b)
All persons and entities owning boats, other than unregistered
tenders, who have a continuous right to moor such boat at any privately
owned mooring, pier, wharf, or float within the confines of Cohasset
Harbor shall pay the current year boat excise and a user's fee as
set by the Board of Selectmen from time to time and shall receive
a decal by June 1 of each year. Upon failure to pay the user's fee,
the Harbor Master shall pursue such remedies as are available under
the terms of these harbor bylaws and regulations promulgated by the
Harbor Master, the General Bylaws of the Town of Cohasset or the laws
of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
[Amended 5-5-1995]
(c)
If a mooring holder ("holder") fails to pay the mooring fee
by April 1 of each year, the Harbor Master shall send the holder a
notice by certified mail ("notice") of such failure and thereafter
upon payment of the mooring fee and a fine within 15 days of the receipt
of such notice, the holder shall be entitled to retain the mooring
location. In the event the holder fails to pay the fine and mooring
fee within 15 days of the receipt of the notice, the Harbor Master
shall remove such holder's mooring tackle from the confines of Cohasset
Harbor, and such removal shall be at the expense of the holder. The
Selectmen shall from time to time set the fine for failure to pay
the mooring fee on or before April 1.
(11)
All boats moored or berthed in Cohasset Harbor shall display
either a mooring decal or a user's decal on the aft port quarter of
the boat to indicate that the appropriate fee has been paid and the
boat owner has authorization to place the boat on a particular mooring
or be otherwise moored in Cohasset Harbor.
(12)
The owners of all boats moored or berthed in Cohasset Harbor
not displaying either a mooring decal or a user's decal shall, during
certain times of the year as prescribed by the Board of Selectmen,
pay a temporary per diem fee as set by the Board of Selectmen annually
on or before July 1.
(13)
A boat moored or berthed in violation of this chapter of the
bylaws or without permission from the Harbor Master shall be removed
from its mooring and stored at the owner's expense. Payment for removal
and storage shall be made before the boat is released to the boat
owner.
B.
If the Harbor Master determines that the mooring tackle conforms
to the specifications, he shall issue a permit and assign a location
if one is available. If the Harbor Master determines that the mooring
tackle does not conform to the specifications or for other valid reasons
deems it improper to issue a mooring permit, he shall refuse to do
so. The Harbor Master shall promulgate regulations with respect to
the care and maintenance of mooring tackle, the temporary assignment
of boats to moorings and with regard to such other matters pertaining
to the mooring of boats as are consistent with this bylaw and the
authority conferred upon the Harbor Master by the laws of the Commonwealth
of Massachusetts.
C.
Sale of boat.
(1)
In the event a boat owner sells or otherwise disposes of the boat
described on the "Application for Mooring Location," the boat owner
may retain the mooring location for another boat if the following
conditions are met:
(a)
The Harbor Master is notified by the boat owner within 30 days
of the transaction relating to the sale or other disposition of the
boat and of the boat owner's intention to place another boat on the
mooring location.
(b)
The boat replacing that described on the original "Application
for Mooring Location" must be, in the judgment of the Harbor Master,
approximately the same size.
(c)
The boat owner obtains the Harbor Master's approval to place
a different boat on the existing mooring location on or before July
31 of the year next after the year of sale or other disposition of
the original boat.
(2)
Failure to fulfill the above conditions by the boat owner shall terminate
the boat owner's permit, and the mooring location may be reassigned
to another boat owner.
The boat owner or operator thereof shall not permit a boat to
be operated at a speed in excess of four nautical miles per hour or
cause a disturbing wake and shall use prudent seamanship within the
confines of Cohasset Harbor.
Any person skin diving in Cohasset Harbor shall on each occasion
obtain the prior permission of the Harbor Master and shall:
A.
Display a diver's flag not less than 12 inches square consisting
of a red field and a white diagonal stripe;
B.
Display such flag on a float or other similar device upright at a
height sufficient to be visible to passing boats;
C.
Tow such float and flag with him while he is submerged in the water,
except that for commercial purposes, permission in writing may be
granted by the Harbor Master to display flags in another manner;
D.
Be required to operate only from a boat attended by another person.
No person shall operate a boat in Cohasset Harbor while towing
a water skier, aquaplane, or other similar device except in connection
with a water carnival and exhibition authorized by the Selectmen or
in an area designated by the Selectmen. No person shall swim or dive
from Town or private piers or floats within Cohasset Harbor unless
enrolled in an organized instructional program permitted by the Harbor
Master. No swimming is permitted near or in a navigational channel,
fairway or an area where vessels normally navigate. No person shall
operate a boat in Little Harbor while towing a water skier, aquaplane
or other similar device except on even-numbered days.
No person shall discharge, deposit, or throw overboard into
the harbor oil, refuse, bait or any similar type of waste.
Small sailing classes will be allowed to race within Cohasset
Harbor when under the jurisdiction of an authorized committee recognized
by the Harbor Master. Such small boats shall respect the maneuvering
problem of larger vessels in the harbor and shall be equipped with
gunwale guards and shall make every reasonable effort to prevent damage
to other boats moored in the Harbor.
The Harbor Master shall be responsible for Town landings, floats
and piers and may promulgate regulations with respect to the use thereof.
Nothing contained herein shall be held or construed to supersede,
conflict, or interfere with, or limit the jurisdiction of the United
States Government with respect to the enforcement of the navigation,
shipping, anchorage, and associated laws of the United States, or
any lawful regulation of any department of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
having jurisdiction over boats, harbors or navigable waters.
Any violation of the provisions of this chapter of the General Bylaws of the Town of Cohasset shall be subject to the penalty set forth in Chapter 1, § 1-6, and nothing contained herein shall preclude the Harbor Master from seeking other appropriate relief, including, without limitation, injunctive relief in the appropriate court having jurisdiction.
