2012-"new" amendment to boating law

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Ordinance No. 2012-1

AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 91 OF THE TOWN CODE

ENTITLED BOATS AND BOATING

At a special workshop meeting of the Town Board of the Town of Irondequoit, MonroeCounty, New York held at the Town Hall, 1280 Titus Avenue, in said Town of

Irondequoit, on the 21st day of May, 2012at 4:00 p.m. local time, there were

PRESENT:

Mary Joyce DAurizio Town Supervisor

Stephanie Aldersley Town Board Member

Deborah Essley Town Board Member

Paul Marasco Town Board MemberJohn Perticone Town Board Member

Harter Secrest & Emery LLP Attorneys for the Town

Town Board Member _________________ offered the following Ordinance and moved

its adoption:

WHEREAS, Chapter 91 of the Code of the Town of Irondequoit, entitled Boats

and Boating was enacted by Ordinance No. 87-3 on April 2, 1987 and was substantively

continued when the Code was re-enacted under Local Law No. 1 of 1997; and

WHEREAS, the proposed amendments to Chapter 91 of the Town Code would

bring the Chapter into conformity with the current version of New York State NavigationLaw 45-aaa, and with Chapter 149 of the Town Code Irondequoit Bay Harbor

Management adopted in September 1998 under Local Law 4-2008, as they relate to

speed and no wake zones within Irondequoit Bay; as well as address issues of regulationof vessel use, anchoring and mooring on a section of Lake Ontario abounding the Town

of Irondequoit and within 300 feet of shore, as authorized by subsections eleven, fifteen

and seventeen of Section 130 of the Town Law, and by Sections 45-aaa and 46-a of theNavigation Law; and

WHEREAS, the Irondequoit Town Board adopted a Resolution at a regular

meeting of the Board on March 20, 2012, introducing an Ordinance to amend Chapter 91of the Town Code, and providing for posting and publication and public hearing, as

provided under Town Law 133 and Section 1-7 of the Code of the Town of Irondequoit;

and said public hearing having been held at the Irondequoit Town Hall on April 19, 2012and an additional public informational session having been held on April 26, 2012; and

due deliberation having been had,


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NOW THEREFORE, for the purpose of regulating the operation, anchoring and

mooring of vessels, including personal watercraft or specialty prop-craft or similarpleasure vessels, on waters abounding the Town, the Irondequoit Town does ordain as

follows:

Section 1. Chapter 91 of the Irondequoit Town Code, entitled Boats and Boating andoriginally enacted by the Irondequoit Town Board by Ordinance No. 87-3 on April 2,

1987 be and hereby is amended to read in its entirety as follows:

Chapter 91. Boats and Boating

91-1. Title.

This chapter shall be known as the Ordinance for the Regulation of Vessels onIrondequoit Bay and Lake Ontario abutting the Town of Irondequoit.

91-2. Authority.

In accordance with Subdivision 17 of 130 of the Town Law, as amended or changed,

and/or 45, 45-aaa, 46-a (2) and 73-c of the Navigation Law, as amended or changed,these regulations are hereby adopted for that part of Irondequoit Bay located within the

Town of Irondequoit and within 1,500 feet from the shore; and on the waters of Lake

Ontario abutting the Town of Irondequoit within 1,500 feet of the shoreline.

91-3. Definitions.

As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:

(1) Vessel shall mean any floating craft and all vessels shall belong to one of

the following classes:

(a) Public Vessel shall mean and include every vessel which is propelled inwhole or in part by mechanical power and is used or operated forcommercial purposes on the navigable waters of the state; that is either

carrying passengers, carrying freight, towing, or for any other use; for

which a compensation is received, either directly or where provided as an

accommodation, advantage, facility or privilege at any place of publicaccommodation, resort or amusement.

(b) Residential vessel shall mean and include every vessel that is used inactual practice primarily as a residence.

(c) Pleasure vessel shall mean and include every vessel not within theclassification of public vessel or residential vessel. However, the

provisions of this chapter shall not apply to rowboats, kayaks and canoesexcept as otherwise expressly provided.


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(d) The term vessel as used in this chapter shall not include a crew racingshell. Crew racing shell shall mean any shell, gig, barge or other boatdesigned primarily for practice or racing, propelled by oars or sweeps, in

the sport of crew or scull racing conducted by a private or public

educational institution, school, academy, college, university or association

of any of the preceding, or by an amateur sports club or association or bythe United States or International Olympic Committees and shall not

include canoes, kayaks, rowboats or lifeboats used in connection withcrew racing activities.

(2) personal watercraft shall mean a vessel which uses an inboard motorpowering a water jet pump as its primary source of motive 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.

(3) Specialty prop-craft shall mean a vessel which is powered by an outboard

motor or a propeller driven motor and which is designed to be operated by a personsitting, standing or kneeling on or being towed behind the vessel rather than in theconventional manner of sitting or standing inside the vessel.

(4) Owner shall mean the person actually holding title to a vessel, except apublic vessel chartered unmanned for a period of more than thirty consecutive days, in

which case owner shall include the person chartering the vessel.

(5) Person shall mean an individual, partnership, corporation or association.

(6) Operator shall mean an individual who operates or navigates a pleasure

vessel.

(7) Master shall include every individual having for the time the charge, control

or direction of a vessel.

(8) Under way shall mean that the vessel is not at anchor, or made fast to the

shore, or aground.

(9) Pier shall mean a wharf or portion of a wharf extending from the shoreline

with water on both sides.

(10) Adrift shall mean a vessel floating on the water without being powered by

a physical or mechanical means.

(11) Joined together shall mean more than one vessel tied to or otherwise

affixed in any manner to another vessel for any period of time.


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91-4. Rules of Operation.

A. Every vessel shall be operated in a careful and prudent manner, in such a wayas not to (1) unreasonably interfere with or endanger any other vessel or

person; (2) endanger the life or limb of another person using the water under

all conditions and having regard to the actual and potential hazards thenexisting; or (3) disturb the reasonable comfort or endanger persons on another

vessel or abutting shore, or to cause damage to another vessel, structure,shoreline property, or the environment or to interfere with the free and proper

uses of the waters. In no event shall a vessel be operated at a speed exceeding

25 miles per hour unless such vessel is being operated for the purpose ofenabling a person engaged in water-skiing to be towed, in which case no such

vessel shall be operated at a speed exceeding 35 miles per hour.

B. No vessel shall be operated within 300 feet of the shore, a dock, pier, raft orfloat or an anchored or moored vessel in a manner or at a speed that causes a

wake that unreasonably interferes with or endangers such dock, pier, raft orfloat or an anchored or moored vessel, but in no event at a speed exceedingfive miles per hour, unless for the purpose of enabling a person engaged in

water-skiing to take off or land.

C. No vessel may be anchored, moored, or joined together with any other vessel

not underway as defined in this local law within the following described

area of Lake Ontario:

The area of Lake Ontario bordered by the west side of the Irondequoit Bay

Outlet Pier three hundred feet (300 ft.) from the shoreline, the entire shoreline

running west from the west side of the Irondequoit Bay Outlet Piercontinuously along the shoreline to the east property boundary of number 186

Lake Bluff Rd., from the point at the east property boundary of 186 Lake

Bluff Road 300 feet north into the navigable water of Lake Ontario and thendirectly east across the open navigable water to the point on the west side of

the Irondequoit Bay Outlet Pier three hundred feet (300 ft.) from the shoreline.

D. Every vessel being operated within the area described in section 91-4 C.above shall be operated in a careful and prudent manner, in such a way as not

to unreasonably interfere with or endanger any other vessel or person, but in

no event shall a vessel be operated at a speed exceeding five (5) miles perhour. Within the area described in section 91-4 C, this speed limit shall be

deemed to supersede the speed limits set forth in section 91-4 A of this

Chapter.

E. Regattas, boat races or racing shell regattas shall not be held unless all permitand notice requirements of Navigation Law 34, 34-a and 45-aaa(3) havebeen fulfilled.


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91-5. Penalties for offenses.

(A) Any master, operator or other person who operates a vessel in areckless manner or at an excessive speed in violation of any of the

provisions of this chapter shall be guilty of a violation punishable tothe same extent as a violation of 45 of the Navigation Law, as

amended or changed.

(B) Any master, operator or other person who positions a vessel in amanner violating the provisions of section 91-4 C of this Chapter shallbe guilty of a class A violation as provided by Section 1-16(A)(i) of

the Code of the Town of Irondequoit.

Section 2. Publication. As provided by Town Law 133, the Town Board authorizes and

directs the Town Clerk to enter this Ordinance into the minutes of the Town Board, andto arrange for a summary or abstract of the Ordinance to be published one time in theofficial newspaper of the Town and to maintain a copy of the affidavit of such

publication.

Section 3. Effective Date. As provided by Town Law 133, this Ordinance shall be

effective ten (10) days after the date of publication of the summary or abstract in the

official newspaper. The Irondequoit Town Board directs the Town Clerk to incorporate

the amended Chapter 91 into the Town Code, and available for public inspection in thesame manner as the Town Code is generally available to the public.

Seconded by Town Board member _______________ and duly put to vote, which

resulted as follows:

Town Supervisor DAurizio voting

Town Board Member Aldersley voting

Town Board Member Essley votingTown Board Member Marasco voting

Town Board Member Perticone voting

2012-"new" amendment to boating law

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