Chapter 17.50 Shore Mooring Regulations

The City of Newport Beach shore mooring regulations are established to promote the efficient utilization of the harbor and scarce shore mooring areas, to improve the public safety and appearance of moored vessels and to provide regular access for the enjoyment of all users of the Harbor, mooring and tideland areas. This shall be done by regulating the placement of moorings, establishing standards for mooring tackle, inspections thereof and maintaining active availability of vessel shore moorings for the public use.

DEFINITIONS

MOORING means any appliance or system used for holding a vessel in place and which is not carried on board the vessel as regular equipment when under way.

MOORING YEAR means the annual period of time from and including January 1 to December 31.

PERMITTEE means a person issued a mooring permit

PERSON means and includes any and all natural persons, corporation, association, club, commission, district, department, board, municipality, public or quasi-public agency or authority.

SHORE MOORING PERMIT means a permit issued for a mooring year by the City of Newport Beach authorizing the permittee to moor a vessel.

SAND LINE means a length of line sufficient to connect the buoy end of the mooring to the shore post end of a mooring.

SEAWORTHY means that a vessel is fit for its intended purpose.

VESSEL means and includes every description of watercraft or other artificial contrivance used or capable of being used as a means of transportation on the water. Vessel shall include the hull, equipment, gear and accessories normally required for the use and maintenance of the vessel whether afloat or on shore and which would normally be sold with the vessel.

VESSEL OWNER means the person(s) listed as owner on the vessel certificate of registration as maintained by the California Department of Motor Vehicles.

VESSEL LENGTH means the manufacturer’s length of the vessel as registered with the Department of Motor Vehicles.

17.50.001 Covered Boundaries

This Chapter shall apply to all of the inland waters of Newport Harbor shoreward of the federal demarcation line dividing inland waters from the high seas.

17.50.002 Harbor Master/Harbor Resources

The City of Newport Beach City Council shall designate a Harbor Master and such additional Harbor Resources as it deems necessary. Where the term Harbor Master is used in this Chapter, it shall apply equally to and mean either the Harbor Master or Harbor Resources.

17.50.003 Powers and Duties of the Harbor Master

Under the supervision of the City Manager, the Harbor Master shall have the following authorities and duties within the covered boundaries:

(1) To enforce the provisions of this Chapter; and

(2) To perform such other duties the City Manager may, from time to time, assign.

17.50.004 Mooring Orientation/Positioning

The Harbor Master shall publish regulations regarding the standards and measures of shore moorings and mooring tackle, including, but not limited to, the size of mooring buoy, sand line material and diameter, chain size and weight, and shore mooring placement within the covered boundaries.

17.50.005 Mooring Inspections

Mooring shall be lifted and visually inspected once every 24 months by licensed marine contractor. The contractor shall certify compliance with the Harbor Masters standards and measures, issued in accordance with Section 17.50.004 of this Chapter, in a report to the Harbor Master. A copy of the report shall be placed on file with and maintained by the Harbor Master.

17.50.006 Vessel Mooring

Except in an emergency, no person shall moor any vessel within the covered boundaries at a shore mooring without a shore mooring permit from or the signed written authorization of the Harbor Master.

17.50.007 Permit Application

Applications for a shore mooring permit shall be made to the Harbor Master and shall contain the following information:

(a) the name and address of vessel owner;

(b) the size, color, and type of vessel to be moored;

(d) the size and type of mooring;

(e) the desired location of the mooring;

(f) the signature of the vessel owner; and

(g) such other pertinent information as the Harbor Master reasonably may specify.

All vessels must provide proof of at least $300,000 in liability insurance coverage on the vessel. The City of Newport Beach must be named as an additional insured on the liability insurance policy name.

Shore mooring applicants and permittees must notify the Harbor Master's office of any changes to information provided on the application. Shore mooring permits are only applicable to the designated boat identified on the mooring application. The use of the mooring by any other vessel without the written consent of the Harbor Master will be grounds for revocation of the mooring permit. Falsifying information on a shore mooring permit application or failure to submit a fully completed shore mooring permit application shall be cause for non-consideration of such application.

17.50.008 Permit Issuance

If the Harbor Master finds that the application conforms to the requirements of this Chapter, he shall, upon payment by the applicant of the annual mooring fee, issue the shore mooring permit confirming the location for said mooring. If the requested location is unavailable, a permit for a location shall be assigned by the Harbor Master as near to the desired location as is feasible. The Harbor Master shall not, however, issue a permit to any person who has not paid their current vessel state registration fee. Upon the issuance by the Harbor Master, a shore mooring permit shall be valid only for the mooring year in which the permit is issued.

17.50.009 Shore Mooring Waiting List

Harbor Master shall maintain a waiting list of applicants who desire to obtain a shore mooring permit. Persons may be added to the waiting list by completing a shore mooring permit application and paying a $20.00 administration fee. The list and position of each applicant shall be published by the Harbor Master twice a year and posted at the Harbor Master’s office. An applicant who wishes to maintain their priority position on the waiting list must reapply each year, on or before the first day of February.

17.50.010 Permit Priority

Shore mooring permits are valid for one shore mooring year. New shore mooring permits are issued annually based on priority. Any person who was a permittee during the preceding year has priority for a mooring permit at the same shore mooring location provided that the permittee’s vessel to be moored is the same size as the previous year and the permittee has met all requirements of this Chapter.

If a permittee in the previous year requests a mooring change, that permittee will have priority over persons on the waiting list who were not permittees in the previous year. If two or more permittees in the previous year request a mooring change, priority will be based on which permittee has been a continuous permittee for a longer period of consecutive years. If all things are otherwise equal between or among applicants, priority shall be on a first-come first-served basis.

17.50.011 Number of Permits

No vessel owner shall maintain more than one shore mooring permit at any time.

17.50.012 Joint Permittees

Where two or more persons are current permittees of the same shore mooring permit, the joint permittee is responsible for ensuring that the joint permittee’s name is listed on the permit on or before January 1, 2006. A joint permittee whose name is not listed on the permit on or before January 1, 2006, loses any legal right in the permit. Joint permittees as of January 1, 2006, shall hold a continuing joint and several right to renew the permit year after year until their number is diminished to zero; thereupon the permit shall terminates and be immediately available for reassignment from the waiting list. No future joint permittee shore mooring permits shall be granted after May 2, 2005.

17.50.013 Transferability of Shore Moorings

Shore moorings may be transferred from a permittee to another person only in connection with the simultaneous sale and transfer of the vessel permitted on that mooring for the previous 12 continuous months. Harbor Resources shall develop and publish a schedule of transfer fees based on the total value of sale between the parties.

An existing permittee shall give up their priority right to obtain a mooring permit for a different location under Section 17.50.009 if the permittee voluntarily surrenders and transfers their existing permit on a sale of a vessel.

17.50.014 Vacancy, Extended Absence

No shore mooring shall be left vacant for a period of more than 60 consecutive days. If a permittee is unable to use the mooring for good reason in excess of 60 consecutive days, written notice must be filed with the Harbor Master. If a shore mooring is left vacant for more than 60 consecutive days and the permittee fails to provide sufficient good reason for the extended vacancy or file written notice with the Harbor Master the mooring shall be considered abandoned and the shore mooring permit revoked. Any moorings left continuously vacant for more than twelve consecutive months shall be grounds for revocation of the shore mooring permit, regardless of whether the permittee has written notice on file with the Harbor Master.

17.50.015 Temporary Use of a Shore Mooring

The Harbor Master may assign temporary use permit of the shore mooring during any permittee’s extended absence. The vessel occupying a shore mooring on a temporary use permit must give up the mooring for any reason on the Harbor Master’s order. Notice of the Harbor Master’s order shall be made to the temporary use permittee as provided by Section 17.50.029 of this Chapter.

17.50.016 Failure to Pay Yearly Mooring Fee

Failure to pay the annual mooring permit fee when due shall be a forfeiture of the permittee’s shore mooring permit.

17.50.017 Right of Audit/Investigation

Permittee agrees to cooperate and furnish all records as requested to the Harbor Master or the Harbor Master’s designated auditor or investigator as a condition of the granting of a shore mooring permit.

17.50.018 Positioning of Shore Moored Vessels

Permittees shall position their vessels seaward of the beach and high tide lines and in accordance with such other directions as promulgated by the Harbor Master. Permittee shall keep the beaches clear of vessels to maximize public use and safety of the beach on which a shore mooring is located.

17.50.019 Prohibition of Live-Aboards

No shore mooring shall be authorized as an eligible location for a live-aboard location under the Municipal Code of the City of Newport Beach. Use of a shore mooring as a live aboard location is grounds for revocation of the shore mooring permit.

17.50.020 General Regulations for Shore Moorings

All shore mooring must be maintained in compliance with the Harbor Master’s regulations propounded under Section 17.50.004 of this Chapter. No person shall abandon or relocate a legal shore mooring without the Harbor Master’s written permission.