Several changes made to Florida law (Chapter 327) since 2009 have increased recreational boaters' ability to anchor within the state.
Chapter 327 outlined a temporary pilot mooring and anchoring program to allow five localities to regulate anchoring within their jurisdictions.
The following is intended to help boaters and local law enforcement understand Florida's anchoring and mooring laws, and the status of the mooring pilot project.
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Under Florida law, boaters who use their boats for navigation, even if only occasionally, cannot be restricted from anchoring by a local jurisdiction (city or county) outside of permitted mooring fields.
Can local governments restrict me from anchoring?
Under Florida law, boaters who use their boats for navigation, even if only occasionally, cannot be restricted from anchoring by a local jurisdiction (city or county) outside of permitted mooring fields.
Cities and counties are expressly forbidden to "enact, continue in effect or enforce any ordinance or local regulation ... regulating the anchoring of vessels other than live-aboard vessels outside the marked boundaries of mooring fields."
Fact Box
Courtesy of Boat Owners Association of The United States. For updates go to boatus.com/gov.
Local governments may regulate anchoring within the marked boundaries of properly permitted mooring fields. As of September these mooring fields are located in: Key West, Fernandina Beach Municipal, Miami Dinner Key, St. Augustine, Titusville, Sarasota, St. Petersburg, Naples, Punta Gorda and Fort Myers Beach.
Local regulations and limitations (Florida law) 327.60
Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit local governmental authorities from the enactment or enforcement of regulations that prohibit or restrict the mooring or anchoring of ?oating structures or live-aboard vessels within their jurisdictions or of any vessels within the marked boundaries of mooring ?elds permitted as provided in s. 327.40.
However, local governmental authorities are prohibited from regulating the anchoring outside of such mooring ?elds of vessels other than live-aboard vessels as de?ned in s. 327.02.
The exception to this restriction are the localities participating in the mooring and anchoring pilot program, which are permitted to regulate anchoring in their jurisdictions.
Does it matter if I live aboard my vessel?
Full-time, active cruisers who sleep on their boats with no permanent residence on land are no longer considered live-aboards under this law. As a result, their anchoring cannot be regulated by local governments. It is no longer relevant that the vessel is a boater's "legal residence" - that term has been removed from the statute. (Chapter 2009-86, section 6) 327.02 De?nition of terms used in this chapter and in chapter 328 as used in this chapter and in chapter 328, unless the context clearly requires a different meaning, the term "Live-aboard vessel" means any vessel used solely as a residence and not for navigation; any vessel represented as a place of business, or a professional or other commercial enterprise and any vessel for which a declaration of domicile has been filed pursuant to s. 222.17.
What is the status of the mooring field pilot studies?
As defined in Florida statute 327.4105, the goals of the temporary pilot program are to encourage the establishment of additional public mooring fields and to test policies that promote public access, enhance navigational safety, protect maritime infrastructure and the environment, and deter improperly stored, abandoned, or derelict vessels. To date, four locations have enacted a local anchoring ordinance:
St. Augustine;
Monroe County (Florida Keys);
Sarasota; and
St. Petersburg.
A fifth location, Martin County/City of Stuart, is still drafting an ordinance. Each of these locations has developed a different approach to regulating anchoring of non live-aboard boats. For a summary of each location's regulations and other updates, go to boatus.com/gov/floridaanchoring.asp.
Can anchoring be limited close to these new moorings?
Yes. The five areas selected for participation in the pilot program may "regulate by ordinance the anchoring of vessels, other than live-aboard vessels as defined in s. 327.02, outside of a mooring field."
BoatU.S. has worked closely with the cities and counties and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission on the development of these local regulations to protect the interests of active, responsible boaters. Boaters should become familiar with local regulations.
The 2009 legislation created the pilot program with an expiration date of July 1, 2014. All local ordinances enacted under this section "shall expire concurrently with the expiration of the pilot program and shall be inoperative and unenforceable thereafter" unless they are re-enacted by the Florida Legislature.
Courtesy of Boat Owners Association of The United States. For updates go to boatus.com/gov.
