The provisions of this chapter are intended to govern the use of waterways
within the jurisdiction of the Village of Northport.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings
indicated:
ADJACENT UPLAND OWNER
Includes the family, employees and guests of the owner of land immediately
adjacent to a waterway, or persons lawfully occupying his premises.
[Added 6-12-2001 by L.L.
No. 7-2001]
PERSONAL WATERCRAFT
A vessel which uses an inboard motor powering a water jet pump as
its primary source of motor power 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.
[Added 6-12-2001 by L.L.
No. 7-2001]
SPECIALTY PROP-CRAFT
A vessel which is powered by an outboard motor or a propeller-driven
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.
[Added 6-12-2001 by L.L.
No. 7-2001]
VESSEL
Includes every description of watercraft or other contrivance used
on or capable of being used as a means of transportation in the water and
includes sea planes, amphibious planes and helicopters.
VESSEL REGULATION ZONE
The area within 1,500 feet from the shore line at the low water mark
of Northport Harbor and/or Northport Bay.
[Added 6-12-2001 by L.L.
No. 7-2001]
[Amended 8-17-1999 by L.L.
No. 12-1999]
The dumping of oil, refuse, garbage, debris or waste of any kind, including
human or animal waste, is prohibited.
All vessels not moored shall be anchored in such a way so as to be secure
at all times and under all conditions.
All floats shall be anchored or moored in such a way as to be secure
at all times and under all conditions.
Any vessel which becomes a menace to navigation or unseaworthy or sinks,
grounds or otherwise becomes disabled shall be removed by the owner or person
in charge thereof on order of the Northport Police Department and/or bay constable
or any duly authorized officer or agent thereof. If such order of removal
is not obeyed within 24 hours, such vessel may then be removed by or at the
direction of the Northport Police Department and/or bay constable or any duly
authorized officer or agent thereof at the expense of the owner or person
in charge of said vessel.
No vessel propelled other than by hand shall cruise or be operated within
100 feet of any beach or float used for bathing or within 50 feet of a person
bathing or within 100 feet of any lifelines.
No vessel shall be operated at a speed in excess of five miles per hour;
provided, however, that the Board of Trustees by resolution enacted at a regular
meeting may from time to time and for periods of time stated in such resolution
suspend the enforcement of this chapter within any portions of the waters
within its jurisdiction. Such areas so suspended in the operation of this
chapter shall be designated by signs located on rafts. In addition no vessel
shall be so operated so as to endanger the occupants of other vessels.
No person shall operate a vessel propelled wholly or partially by an
internal combustion engine without having the exhaust from the engine run
through a muffler so constructed and used as to muffle the noise of the exhaust
in a reasonable manner.
[Added 6-12-2001 by L.L.
No. 7-2001]
All personal watercraft and specialty prop-craft shall be prohibited
from operating within the Vessel Regulation Zone; provided, however, that
nothing contained in this chapter shall prevent a personal watercraft and/or
specialty prop-craft of an adjacent upland owner, or of any other person with
the permission of the adjacent upland owner, from departing from, returning
to or beaching at the shore of such owner, but only if he/she departs and
continues to travel perpendicular to the shore until he/she is beyond the
fifteen-hundred-foot limit and if he/she is not within 150 feet of any beach
used for bathing and swimming and marked as such, and further provided that
he/she shall travel at a speed not to exceed five miles per hour.
Nothing herein contained shall prohibit the Board of Trustees of the
Village of Northport from issuing special permits for aquatic events, boat
races or otherwise under proper supervision, in limited areas and for limited
periods.
This chapter shall be enforced by the Police Department and/or bay constable
of the Village of Northport or by any duly authorized officer or agent thereof.
[Added 8-17-1999 by L.L.
No. 12-1999]
A violation of this chapter shall be punishable by a fine not to exceed
$250, imprisonment for a term not to exceed 15 days, or both such fine and
imprisonment, for each offense, and each day a violation continues shall be
a separate offense.