[§ 2, Ord. 519, eff. July 31, 1969, as amended by § 1, Ord. 540, eff. July 21, 1971; § 1, Ord. 836, eff. November 15, 1988; § 1, Ord. 849, eff. October 19, 1989; § 1, Ord. 1009-02, eff. October 17, 2002; § 1, Ord. 1036-06, eff. February 16, 2006; §§ 2 — 3, Ord. 1037-06, eff. March 9, 2006]
For the purposes of this chapter, certain words and phrases defined shall, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, have the following meanings:
(a) 
FLOAT – Shall mean and include wharf, pier, quay, and landing.
(b) 
MOORING – Shall mean any appliance used by a vessel for anchoring purposes and which appliance is not carried aboard such vessel when under way as regular equipment.
(c) 
PIER – Shall mean any fixed or floating structure for securing vessels, loading or unloading persons or property, or providing access to the water, and shall include wharf, dock, float, or any other landing facility, and floating dry docks.
(d) 
VESSEL – Shall mean and include watercraft used as a means of transportation on water, including ships and boats of all kinds, sailing vessels, catamarans, trimarans, dinghies, seaplanes on the water, and every hulled structure adapted to be navigated from place to place for the transportation of persons or property. Except as provided in § 10-2.212, barges, floating homes and floating structures do not constitute a vessel and are not permitted to be moored or anchored in City waters.
(e) 
Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, AVALON HARBOR shall mean all navigable waters within the City limits in which the tide ebbs and flows and whether or not the lands lying under the tidal waters are privately or publicly owned.
(f) 
CITY WATERS AND WATERS OF THE CITY – Shall mean all waters extending seaward from the ordinary or mean high tide line of the Pacific Ocean, whether or not the line has been fixed by ordinance, statute, court action, or otherwise, and lying within the City limits, whether or not the lands lying under said waters are privately or publicly owned.
(g) 
AVALON HARBOR AND AVALON BAY – Shall be deemed coextensive, and the terms shall be deemed interchangeable.
(h) 
CITY FACILITIES – Shall mean and include, but shall not be limited to, any water-front pier, wharf, or other structure, or property located within 20 meters of the mean high tide line owned or controlled by the City.
(i) 
SEWAGE – Shall mean human body waste.
(j) 
WASTE – Shall mean sewage and all other waste, liquid galley waste, and water from onboard shower facilities, excluding vessel washdown water.
(k) 
HOLDING TANK – Shall mean any retention system on a vessel, which system is designed to hold waste or sewage in the system and is required to be emptied from time to time, treated or untreated.
(l) 
CERTIFIED FACILITY – Shall mean a device:
(1) 
Through which untreated waste and sewage shall pass, be treated, and be discharged into the body of water upon which the vessel floats; and
(2) 
Which is certified pursuant to the provisions of the Federal Pollution Control Act, as amended from time to time, and/or applicable State laws, as enacted and amended from time to time.
(m) 
LENGTH – As applied to vessels and boats shall mean the measurement set forth in the manufacturer's specification for such vessel or boat. Where the vessel has been modified, the Harbor Master shall determine the length of the vessel using any reasonable method. Detachable swim steps and bow pulpits shall not be included in determining length.
(n) 
LONG TERM VESSEL – Shall mean any vessel as defined herein which is moored in City waters during the storm season (November 1st through March 30th) and during such time is required to pay a service charge for mooring use for 14 days or more consecutive days or for a total of 20 days in any thirty-day period.
(o) 
FLOATING HOME OR FLOATING STRUCTURE – Shall mean a structure that has the following characteristics:
(1) 
It is a stationary structure in, on, or above the water that is:
a. 
Permanently grounded by means of more than two concrete or other weighted controls at the stern and bow; or
b. 
Attached to a separate flotation system which is held in place by piling or mooring devices; or
c. 
Placed on or otherwise affixed to a foundation, dock, piling, walkway, gangway, pier, barge, float or other permanent or floating supporting structure.
(2) 
It does not have an adequately sized external or internal mechanical propulsion system capable of being used for self-propelled navigation as set forth in Avalon Municipal Code § 10-2.512. Incidental or limited movement of a structure upon water or resting partially or entirely on the bottom does not preclude the structure from being classified as a floating home or floating structure for purposes of this Code. Registration of a structure as a vessel with State or Federal agencies does not preclude the structure from being classified as a floating home or floating structure for purposes of this Code.
(3) 
It is designed and built to be used, or is modified to be used, or is used, to serve purposes or provide services typically associated with a structure on or other improvement to real property and/or incorporates building materials and methods which are generally found in structures on land rather than a vessel. The term "floating home" means a structure as described herein that is used or designed so as to be used as a residence. The term "floating structure" means a structure as described herein that is used as a place of business.
[§ 2, Ord. 519, eff. July 31, 1969, as amended by § 1, Ord. 698, eff. April 20, 1981]
The Harbor Master shall have full authority to enforce all rules and regulations which may be adopted by the City Council or promulgated by the City Manager pertaining to the use of or approach to the City wharf and docking facilities by any person, float, vessel or vehicle.
[§ 2, Ord. 519, eff. July 31, 1969; § 2, Ord. 836, eff. November 15, 1988; § 1, Ord. 1014-03, eff. July 3, 2003; § 1, Ord. 1015-03, eff. July 31, 2003]
It shall be the duty of the Harbor Master:
(a) 
To carry out the orders of the Council and to enforce all harbor regulations;
(b) 
To designate and mark, by buoys or otherwise, the areas within which vessels of different sizes and classes shall be anchored, moored or tied;
(c) 
To designate and mark, by signs, that certain dinghy docks be posted "No tying between the hours of 3:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m." when and as directed by the City Council;
(d) 
To designate and mark, by signs, that certain dinghy docks shall not be used for securing kayaks;
(e) 
To assign anchorage or moorings to vessels within such designated areas;
(f) 
To assign berths or landing places to vessels coming alongside wharves and piers;
(g) 
To order any vessel improperly anchored, moored, or berthed to change its position as he may designate and, in the event his orders are not complied with, or the owner of the vessel cannot be located, to cause such vessel to be so moved and to collect the cost thereof from such vessel or owner thereof;
(h) 
To promptly report to the City Manager any violation of the laws of the United States for the protection of navigation and the preservation of navigable waters, particularly any encroachment on the waterway by the building of illegal structures by unlawfully filling or dumping material of any kind into the waterway, or by throwing overboard, or setting adrift, or permitting to go adrift anything that is or might become obstructive or dangerous to navigation; and
(i) 
To keep a record of the number, size, and kind of vessels using the harbor, the amount, kind, and value of waterborne freight handled, and the number of passengers carried by the vessels using the harbor, and to report each month a summary of such record to the Council.
[§ 2, Ord. 519, eff. July 31, 1969]
Whenever a power is granted to, or a duty is imposed upon, the Harbor Master, the power may be exercised, or the duty may be performed, by a deputy or assistant of the Harbor Master or by a person authorized, pursuant to law, by the Council, unless the provisions of this chapter expressly provide otherwise.
[§ 1, Ord. 1039-06, eff. March 23, 2006]
(a) 
Violations of the following provisions of Title 10 shall be deemed an infraction:
§ 10-2.214, relating to dinghy docks with the exception of subsection (g) regarding removal of tags or markers affixed by the Harbor Department to detect violations;
§§ 10-2.301 and 10-2.303, relating to permits to repair vessels;
§ 10-2.304, relating to speed of vessels;
§ 10-2.306, relating to operation of generators;
§§ 10-2.417 through 10-2.420, relating to loading of passengers and freight and use of City facilities;
§ 10-2.421, relating to traffic and parking regulations on the Mole;
§ 10-2.501, relating to obstructing landings and fairways;
§§ 10-2.506 and 10-2.507, relating to solicitation of patronage;
§ 10-2.509, relating to submission of manifest information;
§ 10-2.510, relating to posting of charges;
§ 10-2.515, relating to maintenance of vessels;
§ 10-3.02, relating to vessel speed within the Avalon Marine Preserve;
§ 10-6.02, relating to permits for diving within Avalon Harbor;
§§ 10-1.01 and 10-1.02 relating to fishing with spears.
(b) 
Except as otherwise specified, violations of the following provisions of Title 10 shall be misdemeanors unless the prosecutor in his or her discretion and in the interests of justice determines that the violation should be charged as an infraction:
§§ 10-2.201 through and including 10-2.212, relating to mooring places;
§ 10-2.409, relating to nonpayment of fees;
§ 10-2.410(b) and 10-2.412, relating to operating of a business without first obtaining a waterside permit;
§ 10-2.502, relating to damaging public property;
§ 10-2.503, relating to contamination of waters and beaches, with the exception of subsection (h) relating to refusal or tampering with dye tabbing which shall be punishable as a misdemeanor;
§ 10-2.508, relating to construction work, dredging and excavating;
§ 10-2.511, relating to unattended vessels;
§ 10-2.512, relating to movement of vessels;
§ 10-2.514, relating to unseaworthy vessels;
§ 10-6.01, relating to diving from piers, seawalls and breakwaters.