This chapter shall be cited as the "Harbor Management
Law of the City of New Rochelle."
The City of New Rochelle supports a wide range
of public and private water-related uses, including, among other things,
recreational and commercial boating, anchorage and mooring, marinas,
yacht clubs and charter vessels. The City of New Rochelle requires
a harbor management plan in order to manage the efficient use of the
harbor; to ensure the safety of commercial and recreational navigation
in the waters or waterways of the City of New Rochelle, swimming,
diving and waterskiing; to provide for the equitable allocation of
the water's surface for a variety of uses; and to protect wetland
vegetation, nesting areas, beaches and other elements of the harbor
ecosystem. The operation and mooring of vessels in New Rochelle, swimming,
diving and waterskiing and the safe and efficient use of space within
the harbor are matters affecting the public interest and should be
subject to the regulatory controls set forth in this chapter.
A.
This chapter is adopted pursuant to § 46-a
of the Navigation Law, § 10 of the Municipal Home Rule Law,
Article 42 of the Executive Law and Article IX of the State Constitution.
B.
The provisions of this chapter shall, except when
prohibited by the laws of the United States, apply to all waters or
waterways in the City and to all waters or waterways bordering the
City to a distance of 1,500 feet from the mainland shore and the shore
of any islands, except as otherwise shown on the Harbor Management
Map.
C.
All provisions of the Navigation Law of this state,
and the rules enacted by Congress, shall be complied with by all persons
operating or in control of a vessel navigating within the harbor management
area.
As used in this chapter, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
To secure a vessel temporarily to the bottom of a water body
by dropping an anchor or anchors or other ground tackle from a vessel.
The areas designated by the City of New Rochelle, as depicted
on the Harbor Management Map, that are reserved specifically for the
anchorage of vessels.
A person appointed by the Police Commissioner to assist in
the duties of the Harbor Patrol.
A flat-bottomed structure not designed for transportation
but designed to float on water and to support live loads, which usually
is unable to be moved without assistance from a towboat or other vessel.
All public beaches (at all levels of jurisdiction), private
membership club beaches and private homeowners' association beaches,
as depicted on the Harbor Management Map.
Any structure, except a building, positioned parallel to
the shore, the primary function of which is to retain soil or any
other material from eroding into a waterway or to protect the land
from wave damage.
Water areas specifically reserved for unobstructed movement
of vessels and which may be marked in the water by aids to navigation.
Channels are depicted on the Harbor Management Map.
Any permanent structure, except a building, connected to
a bulkhead or the upland and extending over the water's surface designed
to secure vessels and provide access from the shore to a waterbody.
Docks are generally anchored to the underwater land on pilings and
allow for water flow beneath the decking. The term dock includes the
term "pier" or "quay."
An area in the harbor, other than a federally or locally
designated channel, commonly used as an open accessway between marine
structures or designated channels, buffers areas and mooring areas.
Fairways are depicted on the Harbor Management Map.
Any structure buoyant on the water surface extending seaward
affixed and secured in place to underwater lands or to the shore,
a bulkhead or a dock, of which the purpose is to berth and secure
vessels or provide a means of access to and from the shore. The term
"float" includes a floating dock, "mooring buoy" or "mooring raft."
All surface waters, inlets, bays and coves, including the
area between the mean high and mean low water mark, within or bounding
the City of New Rochelle, as such waters are depicted on the Harbor
Management Map.
The water-surface map adopted by the City of New Rochelle
as part of this chapter.
A plan comprised of the policies, goals, objectives and standards,
including the Harbor Management Map.
The administrative official appointed by the Commissioner
of Parks and Recreation of the City of New Rochelle, which administrative
official is a peace officer pursuant to § 2.10, Subdivision
19 of the New York State Criminal Procedure Law, and who is authorized
to enforce and administer the provisions of this chapter.
[Amended 3-16-2004 by Ord. No. 59-2004]
The police enforcement official or officials under the control
and supervision of the Police Commissioner, who are peace officers
pursuant to § 2.10, Subdivision 19 of the New York State
Criminal Procedure Law and who are authorized to enforce and administer
the provisions of this chapter.
Any vessel 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 harbor management area of the City of
New Rochelle, whether such vessel is self-propelled or not.
Rowboat, kayak, canoe or other small vessel, usually less
than 16 feet in length, which is propelled in the water by human force.
Any contiguous arrangement of floats, piers or docks capable
of accommodating two or more vessels and sharing common access, utility
services, ownership or control.
To attach a vessel to a pier or dock or other structure or
to attach a vessel to the ground or lands underwater by means of tackle
so designed that, when such attachment is terminated, some portion
of the tackle remains below the surface of the water and is not under
the control of the vessel or its operator.
The areas designated by the City of New Rochelle, as depicted
on the Harbor Management Map, that are reserved specifically for the
mooring of vessels.
A permanent or semi-permanent vessel-anchoring device and
its associated tackle, such as chains, buoys and other equipment,
other than a common anchor, manufactured and used specifically for
the permanent or semipermanent mooring of vessels.
A mooring device of which standards for construction are
specified in the Harbor Management Law and whose purpose is to berth
and secure vessels.
A vessel which uses an inboard motor powering a water-jet
pump as its primary source of motive power or is powered by an outboard
motor or a propeller-drive motor, and which is designed to be operated
by a person sitting, standing or kneeling on, or being towed behind,
the vessel rather than in the conventional manner of sitting or standing
inside the vessel, including a jet ski or specialty prop-craft.
An individual, partnership, corporation, association, and
any other legal entity, using the facilities and areas within the
harbor management area and subject to the provisions of this chapter.
A waterfront structure, usually of open construction, extending
from the shoreline with water on all sides of the structure that extends
from the shoreline.
A line beyond which no structure may extend out into navigable
waters, which line shall be the Federal Channel line where such exists
or, where no Federal Channel line exists, that line as depicted on
the Harbor Management Map.
[Amended 1-20-2004 by Ord. No. 12-2004]
To descend totally below the water surface for extended periods
of time utilizing self-contained breathing apparatus and tanks.
To descend totally below the water surface without the use
of self-contained breathing apparatus and tanks but with the use of
a face mask with or without an attached snorkel.
The line of the shore at mean high water as generally depicted
on the Harbor Management Map.
The rate of travel of a vessel as measured in slack water
in statute miles.
An area designated by safety lines at public beaches operated
by government agencies, vessel exclusion areas depicted on the Harbor
Management Map and any other areas within the jurisdictional limits
of New Rochelle where swimming does not interfere with vessel navigation
and is not prohibited by law.
See "mooring device."
Includes every description of boat, watercraft or other contrivance
used or capable of being used as a means of transportation in the
water, including aircraft, and personal watercraft.
A two-hundred-foot buffer area at beaches, except public
beaches operated by government agencies, which buffer extends 200
feet outward from the mean high tide line and 200 feet along the shore
in either direction, in which area bathing and swimming are customary
and where vessels, and personal watercraft, are prohibited. At public
beaches operated by government agencies, where safety lines mark the
boundaries of swimming, wading and diving areas, the vessel exclusion
area extends 50 feet seaward from said safety lines. Vessel exclusion
areas are depicted on the Harbor Management Map.
The person under whose name the vessel was last registered
in accordance with the provisions of 46 U.S.C. Chapters 121 to 125
or the Motor Vehicle and Traffic Law and, in any other case, the last
known owner or person who claims lawful possession of such vessel
by virtue of legal title or equitable interest therein which entitles
him/her to such possession.
