[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Southold as indicated
in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 7-22-1997 by L.L. No. 19-1997]
A.
Title. This article shall be known as the "Fishers Island
Harbor Management Law."
B.
Applicability. Unless otherwise provided, each provision
of this article relating to Fishers Island shall apply to all waters adjacent
to Fishers Island, Town of Southold, from the mean high-water mark to a distance
of 1,500 feet from the shore.
The Town Board creates a Fishers Island Harbor Committee to recommend
policies for the management of the waters bounding Fishers Island and to assist
in administration of this article. The membership shall represent a wide range
of groups interested in and using the waters bounding Fishers Island. Members
shall be appointed for five-year terms. The Committee shall meet a minimum
two times per year, prior to and after the boating season. Notice of the meeting
shall be posted 10 days in advance.
No vessel shall be operated in a manner to create a wake which could
endanger or disturb persons or property in any area of Fishers Island waters.
No vessel shall be operated at a speed greater than five miles per hour in
designated speed zones or within 300 feet of shore, pier, anchored or moored
vessels, launching ramps, marinas, sailboat race or other congested areas.
A.
Waterskiing is prohibited in all areas where speed in
excess of five miles per hour is prohibited.
B.
The following regulations shall apply to Hay Harbor:
C.
Skiers will remain a minimum of 100 feet from any dock
or shoreline unless they approach or depart perpendicularly to or from the
shoreline solely for the purpose of commencing or ending the ride.
A.
All boats temporarily anchored in waters bounding Fishers
Island shall anchor in an area established by the Fishers Island Harbor Committee,
subject to the following:
(1)
No anchoring is permitted in Inner West Harbor or Silver
Eel Pond.
(2)
No overnight anchoring is permitted in Hay Harbor.
(3)
Anchoring shall not be permitted for a continuous period
of more than three consecutive nights in a fourteen-day period within an anchorage
unless authorized by the Fishers Island Bay Constable, which authorization
may only be granted for emergency situations.
[Amended 1-18-2000 by L.L. No. 2-2000]
(4)
No boat shall be so moored or anchored that it at any
time rests within any channel or interferes with the full use of such channel,
nor shall any boat be moored or anchored within 50 feet of any dock, pier
or other boat docking facilities.
B.
No permanent moorings shall be placed unless authorized
by a permit duly issued by the Fishers Island Harbor Committee Secretary/Clerk.
An annual mooring sticker issued to the permittee by the Fishers Island Harbor
Committee Secretary/Clerk indicates authorization of the permit.
[Amended 1-18-2000 by L.L. No. 2-2000]
(1)
The location of each mooring shall be assigned by the
Fishers Island Harbor Committee for waters bounding Fishers Island. The Committee
shall consider optimum use of available space, vessel safety, environmental
protection, impacts on shorefront property owners, whether the mooring will
be used for vessel storage or living aboard and the size and class of vessel,
while assigning mooring locations.
(2)
The fees for a mooring permit shall be those established
by resolution of the Southold Town Board.
(3)
All mooring permits shall expire on December 31 of the
year of issuance.
(4)
All mooring buoys shall be assigned a number by the Fisher's
Island Harbor Committee Secretary/Clerk, which shall be affixed to the buoy
by the permittee in numbers at least four inches in height.
(5)
The Committee will maintain the mooring plan for West
Harbor.
A.
Use of a vessel as an abode, whether at a dock, in a
designated anchorage or on a mooring designated for a live-aboard use, is
permitted for three consecutive nights within any fourteen-day period.
B.
The Town Board authorizes the Fishers Island Harbor Committee
power to allow temporary exemptions to length-of-stay restrictions, by considering
the location of the vessel, overboard discharges associated with the vessel
and the reasons for requesting the exemption.
A.
All moorings are subject to random inspections by a Bay
Constable or his designee, who may require hauling, repair or replacement
for worn or defective tackle.
B.
Moorings failing an inspection or missing a buoy or otherwise
defective or unsafe shall not be used until the condition is corrected.
C.
If unsafe conditions persist or the mooring is abandoned,
the Bay Constable shall order and direct the removal of the tackle. In the
event that the owner fails to remove the tackle within 10 business days, the
Town may cause the tackle to be lifted and removed. The expense of such removal
shall be a lien and charge on the property of the boat owner until paid and
shall be collected in the same manner and the same time as other Town charges.
A.
Permittees may make their vacant mooring available to
their guests upon notification of and permission from the Fishers Island Bay
Constable or his designee, for a period not to exceed three consecutive nights
within any fourteen-day period. Permission shall be granted if the guest vessel
is of compatible or like size to the vessel for which the mooring was approved
and can be accommodated with the approved mooring tackle and within the approved
mooring circle.
Rafting on a single mooring will only be permitted for not more than
three boats during the daylight hours and two boats at night, provided it
does not interfere with adjacent single moorings or anchorages or navigation
of other boats. Owners or operators of rafted vessels shall not leave the
raft unattended and shall be available to tend to the vessels in the event
of heavy weather.
It shall be a violation of this article to discharge any untreated or
improperly treated sewage, refuse or waste matter, petroleum product or by-product,
paint, varnish, dead animals or debris within Fishers Island waters or adjacent
shores.
A.
Any boat which becomes a menace to navigation or unseaworthy
or sinks, grounds or otherwise becomes disabled or incapable of navigation
shall be removed or restored to navigable condition by the registered owner
upon notice from the Southold Town Board or its designated agent, which notice
shall be either by personal service or be certified mail addressed to the
registered owner's last known address as given by him or as stated in his
certificate of registration.
B.
If such boat is not removed or restored to navigable
condition by the owner within one week after the mailing of said notice, the
Southold Town Board or its designated agency may direct the removal or destruction
of the boat; and the cost of said removal, including storage charges, shall
attach to and shall become a lien upon said boat; and said boat may be sold,
upon direction of the court, at public auction to defray said expenses, any
surplus being returned to the owner of record. The Town shall not be liable
for any damage done to said boat during its removal, storage and sale.
Should any provision of this article be adjudged by any court of competent
jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment shall not affect, impair or invalidate
the remainder of this article, but shall be confined in its operation to the
clause, sentence, paragraph, section or part thereof directly involved in
the litigation in which such judgment shall have been rendered.
A.
It shall be unlawful for any person or agent of any person
to fail to comply with any provision of this article or to fail in any manner
to comply with a written notice, directive or order of the Bay Constables
or to conduct any operation in a manner not in compliance with a permit issued
pursuant to this article.
B.
For every offense against any of the provisions of this
law or any regulations made pursuant thereto or failure to comply with a written
notice or order of the Bay Constables within the time fixed for compliance
therewith, any person, or any other person or agent of such who commits, takes
part or assists in the commission of any such offense or who shall fail to
comply with a written order or notice of the Bay Constables shall, upon conviction
thereof, be guilty of a violation punishable by a fine not exceeding $500
or by imprisonment for a period not to exceed six months, or by both such
fine and imprisonment. Each day's continued offense shall constitute a separate,
additional violation.
[Amended 1-16-2007 by L.L. No. 3-2007]
