[Amended 5-7-2024 by L.L. No. 15-2024; 4-3-2025 by L.L. No. 7-2025]
A. 
Supervision and control.
(1) 
Town waters. The placement of boats and floats, and the location of moorings and anchoring areas in Town waters, other than Trustee waters and beaches, are subject to the supervision and control by the Town Harbormaster and/or Town Police Department.
(2) 
Trustee waters and beaches. The placement of boats and floats, and the location of moorings and anchoring areas in Trustee waters and beaches are subject to the supervision and control by the Trustees of the Freeholders and Commonalty of the Town of East Hampton and/or their designated agent. All boats shall be placed, anchored or moored in or on such Trustee waters and beaches in compliance with such regulations as the Trustees shall duly adopt. The Town Harbormaster and/or Town Police Department are authorized by the Town Board and Town Trustees to enforce Trustee regulations as they are set forth herein or as may be otherwise posted.
B. 
General prohibitions.
(1) 
No person shall place a mooring or float in Trustee or Town waters without a permit for the placement of same from the appropriate authority.
(2) 
No person shall attach a vessel or float to a mooring in Trustee or Town waters without a permit from the appropriate authority, which permit shall be affixed to the vessel or float and which shall identify both the vessel or float and the mooring to which it is attached.
(3) 
Mooring permits, other than commercial business entity moorings, are not transferable. See nontransferable mooring. Permits are issued for exclusive use of the permit holder for specific mooring location and the specific vessel listed on the permit. Such permit shall not be valid for any other location, person or vessel.
(4) 
No person shall moor or anchor any vessel or float in such a way that it at any time rests within the line of any channel.
(5) 
No person shall moor or anchor any vessel or float within 50 feet of any channel marker or other navigational aid.
(6) 
No person shall moor or anchor a vessel or float so as to endanger the safety of, or cause damage to, any vessel previously moored or anchored.
(7) 
No person shall moor or anchor a vessel or float utilizing equipment inadequate to maintain the vessel or float as secure at all times and under all conditions.
C. 
Assumption of risk. The owners and users of vessels and floats moored, anchored or operated in Town or Trustee waters do so at their own risk. The Town or the Town Trustees, and their agents and/or employees, shall not be responsible for loss, theft, destruction, or damage (regardless of the cause thereof) to any vessel or float, mooring, or attachment, including equipment, fixtures and contents of any boat, for which a permit is issued or which is otherwise located in Town or Trustee waters, regardless of whether such vessel or float is tied to, launched, moored or attached to any installation provided by or approved by the Town or the Town Trustees.
D. 
Application procedure for float permit. A written application to place a float shall be submitted to either the Town Harbormaster, for placement in Town waters, or the Town Trustees, for placement in Trustee waters, upon the form provided for such purpose, and upon payment of the appropriate fee, if any.
E. 
Application procedure for mooring permit. A written application to place a float shall be submitted to either the Town Harbormaster, for placement in Town waters, or the Town Trustees, for placement in Trustee waters, upon the form provided for such purpose, and upon payment of the appropriate fee, if any. No mooring permit shall be issued for a boat unless:
(1) 
The vessel is documented, or registered and numbered, and bears a current validation sticker in accordance with the provisions of Article 48 of the New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law (Registration of Vessels), or is otherwise exempt from such requirements; and
(2) 
Proof of such insurance as may be required by the permit issuing authority has been submitted.
F. 
Mooring regulations.
(1) 
Permits shall be effective as of April 1 of the year in which issued and shall terminate on the 1st day of December, unless sooner terminated or revoked.
(2) 
Moorings and mooring buoys shall be installed in their designated location prior to Memorial Day each year. In the event that a mooring is not installed by such date, the mooring permit issued therefor shall automatically terminate and the permit issuing authority may reassign the mooring space to the next eligible applicant.
(3) 
Mooring permits shall be affixed to the mooring at the time of installation.
(4) 
The material construction of the moorings within Town or Trustee waters shall be approved by the permit issuing authority. Iron and wooden posts, engine blocks, cement blocks, or similar materials are prohibited for use as moorings in Town or Trustee waters. Wooden posts may be used, however, as a part of a rigged line and pulley mooring. All moorings, whether public or privately owned, shall meet the minimum required standards of the Town and/or the Town Trustees, as may be amended from time to time.
(5) 
No person shall occupy a vessel overnight in any Town waters outside of a designated mooring or anchorage area without permission from the Town Harbormaster.
(6) 
No person shall moor or anchor a vessel or float so as to be anchored unoccupied for a period in excess of 12 hours without the permission of the Town Harbormaster.
(7) 
Notwithstanding the provisions of Paragraph (8), supra, the Town Harbormaster shall have the authority to order any vessel to relocate or leave the area if he should determine, in his discretion, that the same is necessary for the safe and orderly use of Town or Trustee waters.
(8) 
No person shall moor or anchor a vessel or float in violation of any lawful order or directive issued by the Town Trustees, Town Police, Town Harbormaster.
(9) 
All permits shall be subject to revocation for a violation of any regulations set forth in this chapter, for a violation of a condition set forth in a permit, or for misrepresentations or misstatements made in an application for a permit.
(10) 
All permit holders shall possess and maintain insurance to be insured to value of the vessel and such policies shall include and cover the use of moorings.
(11) 
The Board may change the collected fees for all types of moorings and required insurance policies from time to time.
(12) 
Any mooring placed in violation of this section shall, in addition to any penalties set forth herein, be subject to removal and impoundment by the Town Harbormaster. In the event of such removal and impoundment, the mooring owner shall be responsible, in addition to any penalties set forth herein, for payment of all expenses for such removal, storage and reinstallation.
[Amended 2-6-2025 by L.L. No. 1-2025]
A. 
Disabled vessels: 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 Town Harbormaster or the Town Police. Any vessel which is found in violation of this section shall be subject to impoundment, and the owner thereof shall be subject to penalties for the violation of this section as well as all costs associated with the vessel removal and storage. Such charges shall constitute a lien upon the vessel.
B. 
Beached vessels: No vessel shall be left upon any Town or Trustee beach after November 1 of any year. Any vessel which is found in violation of this provision shall be subject to impoundment, and the owner thereof shall be subject to penalties for the violation of this section as well as all costs associated with the vessel removal and storage. Such charges shall constitute a lien upon the vessel.
[Amended 2-6-2025 by L.L. No. 1-2025]
A. 
No vessel shall tie up or remain berthed at a publicly owned dock or bulkhead in Three Mile Harbor or Lake Montauk, unless such vessel has paid a slip rental or wharfage fees for such space. The failure to move such vessel when ordered by the Town Harbormaster or the Town Police shall be a violation of this section. Each day's continued violation shall constitute a separate additional violation.
B. 
Emergency slips at Town-maintained public docks shall be available at a fee for the maximum time period established by Town Board resolution and payable to the Town Harbormaster.
No boat propelled other than by hand shall cruise or be operated within 100 feet of any lifelines or bathing float or, if there be no lifelines or bathing float, then within 200 feet of any public or semipublic beach regularly used for bathing or swimming, nor shall such boat cruise or be operated in excess of five miles per hour within 100 feet of any person bathing or swimming except at inlets or where a channel approaches the shoreline closer than the distances set forth in this section.
[Amended 6-6-2013 by L.L. No. 4-2013]
A. 
No boat shall be operated at a speed in excess of that posted by speed markers. In any area of Town waters where no speed marker is posted and no other provision of this chapter applies, no boat shall be operated in excess of 45 miles per hour. For purposes of this section, Town waters shall be deemed to consist of all waters located within 1,500 feet of any shoreline within the boundaries of the Town of East Hampton.
B. 
No boat shall be operated in any harbor or in any area where there is congestion of boats, either underway or at anchor, at a speed in excess of five miles per hour. This provision shall not apply to windsurf boards in Napeague Harbor. A violation of the provisions of this Subsection B shall be punishable by a fine as set forth in the schedule of fines contained in this chapter, or by imprisonment for up to 15 days, should said person fail to answer any instrument issued for the aforesaid conduct.
C. 
No vessel of more than 2,000 installed horsepower shall operate at a speed in excess of 15 miles per hour within or upon Town waters. This subsection shall not apply to any government or military vessel, to any vessel for which a limited, one-time written exemption of the Town Harbormaster has been previously obtained nor to any vessel engaged in a bona fide rescue effort or which is otherwise rendering aid or assistance during an emergency.
No person shall launch a boat from any Town-owned launching ramps unless the vehicle to which said boat and trailer is connected displays a valid parking permit or ramp use permit duly issued by the Town Clerk for said vehicle.
A. 
No person shall operate a boat propelled wholly or partly by an engine operated by the explosion of gas, gasoline, naphtha or other substance 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.
B. 
No person shall operate a boat in any Town or Trustee waters which does not meet all duly adopted and published requirements of the United States Coast Guard with regard to safety equipment to be carried on or incorporated into boats of its type.
A. 
No person shall ride on water skis, a surfboard or similar device, or use or operate a boat to tow a person thereon in any marked channel in the Town of East Hampton, or within 200 feet of any shoreline or within 100 feet of any bather or swimmer, except such persons may approach or depart perpendicular to the shoreline and solely for the purpose of commencing or ending the ride; nor shall any person ride on water skis, a surfboard or similar device, or use or operate a boat to tow a person thereon in the waters of Three Mile Harbor, other than in the designated water ski area.
B. 
Water scooters.
(1) 
No person shall operate a water scooter in any harbor or designated bathing beach located within the boundaries of the Town of East Hampton.
(2) 
No person shall operate a water scooter outside of any harbor within 500 feet of any shoreline in the Town of East Hampton, or within 100 feet of any bather or swimmer, except that such persons may depart or approach at a speed no greater than 10 miles per hour perpendicular to the shoreline solely for the purpose of commencing or ending a ride.
No person shall skin-dive with any type of diving equipment within any channel in the Town of East Hampton, nor shall any person bathe or swim in any such channel, except in the course of a rescue.
No person shall skin-dive with any type of diving equipment unless he has marked the diving area with a regulation red diving flag, nor shall any person allow or permit such diving flag to remain in any area unless such person is actually skin diving in the area at the time. No boat shall operate within 100 feet of any area marked for skin diving by the placement of said regulation red diving flag.
No person shall discharge any apparatus designed for use in spearfishing within 200 feet of any lifelines or bathing float, or, if there be no lifelines or bathing float, then within 200 feet of any public or semipublic beach regularly used for bathing or swimming, or within 100 feet of any person bathing or swimming.
[Amended 2-6-2025 by L.L. No. 1-2025]
A. 
No boat propelled by motor power shall be operated on the waters of Wainscott Pond, Fort Pond or Georgica Pond, except as provided for Paragraphs B and C, hereinbelow.
B. 
No boat or object propelled by motor power, with the exception of small electric motors no greater than 1/3 horsepower, shall be operated on the waters of Fort Pond. There shall be no commercial rentals of gasoline or electric outboards permitted for use on Fort Pond.
C. 
Boats propelled by outboard motors of 10 horsepower or less shall be permitted to be operated on the waters of Georgica Pond from the first day of October to the 30th day of April, inclusive, by permit only, for the purpose of fishing. Said permit shall be available to Town residents only at the office of the Town Harbormaster. Any violation of this section, in addition to any fine, shall result in the revocation of the violator's permit.
A. 
Requirements for placement and use. No person shall install and/or use fish traps located on bottomlands owned by the Town of East Hampton or the Town Trustees unless such person:
(1) 
Is a resident of the Town of East Hampton; and
(2) 
Has obtained a permit for the placement of said trap.
B. 
Permits. Each permit shall be valid for the period commencing March 1 and ending November 1 of each year. No fish trap gear shall remain in place between January 2 and February 28 of each year.
C. 
Trap marking. All fish traps shall be marked at the time of installation pursuant to the rules and regulations of the permit issuing authority. The permit number shall be prominently displayed on the trap.
D. 
Authority of Town officials. In the event that a duly authorized official shall deem the trap, once installed, to be improperly marked or in some way a hazard to navigation or to the health, safety or welfare of the public, such official shall take any action necessary to remove or relocate the trap. Such action may include, but shall not be limited to, removal of the trap. The Town shall not incur any liability for the removal of any trap based upon the reasons set forth in this section, regardless of whether said trap is located as set forth on an application approved by the Town Board.
A. 
As used in this section, the term "floating home" shall be defined as follows: Any floating structure located anywhere in Town waters, whether or not a "boat" hereunder, and whether or not anchored, secured to the shore, a bulkhead or the bottom, which is designed or arranged primarily for residential use as opposed to transportation over water. Included in this definition shall be all manner of houseboats and every other boat or watercraft, other than a working dredge or barge, which lacks an installed and operative engine or a system or spars and sails capable of propelling the same through the water, but which has an enclosed cabin or other living area.
B. 
No person shall construct, install, anchor, moor, dock or otherwise maintain a prohibited floating home anywhere within Town waters, nor shall any person dwell, reside, sleep or otherwise maintain a place of abode on any such prohibited floating home.
C. 
Any floating home in existence on the effective date of this article which has been continuously occupied for a period of three months or more shall be exempt from the provisions hereof and not prohibited; provided, however, that if, subsequent to the effective date hereof any such exempt floating home is, for a continuous period of one year or more, either unoccupied or removed from Town waters, such floating home shall lose such exemption and shall thereafter to be subject to this article and prohibited.
D. 
The prohibitions in this section shall not apply to floating homes which remain in Town waters for less than 48 hours while transiting the area.
Nothing herein contained shall prohibit the Town Board of the Town of East Hampton from issuing special permits for aquatic events or boat races under proper supervision in limited areas and for limited periods of time.