Liveaboard Legislation...

[skysailor]

Hi!

This is the thread of discussion regarding legislation that affects liveaboard boaters, started in the General Discussions topic.

Background:
A recent (and now past) director of the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (the DNR) initiated a policy change a couple of years ago that resulted in an effort to evict liveaboard boaters from their residences. There was quite a bit of publicity, and a concerted effort by liveaboards to preserve their right to live aboard their boats. It was seen that more specific and relevant legislation was required, and bills are currently being written at both state and local (Seattle) levels that will amend the Shoreline Management Act (SMA) and determine how things play out for us.

Current State Activity:
At the state level, there is a new DNR director who has indicated his desire to work with us to develop legislation that enables the DNR to effectively manage aquatic lands, shorelines and other natural resources and still preserve our right to live aboard our boats. There are many considerations, and it is a complex process, currently underway. There are meetings for public input into the process scheduled for this month (August, 2002) as follows:

1 Olympia
Monday August 12th 7-9pm
Natural Resources Building - Rm 172, 1st floor
1111 Washington St. SE
Olympia, WA 98504

2 Friday Harbor
Tuesday, August 13th 7-9pm
Skagit Valley College, San Juan Center, Rm A
221 Weber Way
Friday Harbor, WA 98250

Current draft proposals include revisions that there will be (roughly… there will be exceptions, over and under; much of it is left up to local government) a 10% liveaboard limit on all publicly owned aquatic lands, including that leased to marinas… a marina with 100 slips would be able to allow liveaboards in ten of them, 10% of the boats at an approved anchorage, etc.. Anchoring out wouldn't be allowed unless you could get a local government agency to agree to supervise your occupancy of the buoy, or your cove, or whatever, making sure all your waste including gray water is discharged over dry land, collecting rent from you, and so on. In other words, there isn't going to be much living on the hook. Living aboard at a marina, though, or in an approved anchorage or something, would be recognized as a water-dependent use. It has been thus far been classed as water-oriented, which doesn't give us as much priority in planning considerations, so that's good. There are many other aspects and facets to all this. You can go to:

http://www.wa.gov/dnr/htdocs/aqr/residentaluse/announce.htm

Which is the DNR's information page on this topic. Unfortunately they haven't got it too well organized yet (they assured us they would work on it!) and it's a bit confusing. If you find yourself looking at the document dated '91, that indicated on the link that it was a current posting, don't panic. Go to:

http://www.wa.gov/dnr/htdocs/aqr/residentaluse/qa.html

Which is the most recent Q&A sheet on the subject.

The Seattle City Council also just passed a bill modifying their Shoreline Master Plan (SMP), and giving the director of the Department of Construction and Land Use (DCLU) authority to interpret and enforce the SMA in Seattle. This will have some impact on waterfront businesses (including marinas) and activities.

I'm really over my head here and don't know nearly as much as a lot of other people. If you're a liveaboard and really concerned about this, or just a boater who's concerned... heck, I don't even care if you're just dreaming of having a boat... if you want to know as much as possible, go to http://www.liveaboards.org and sign up on the mailing list to keep abreast of any new developments, and ask questions of the people who are really up on all this, including some officials who monitor the list and occasionally provide input. If you're one of those "in the know," please help keep the rest of us up to date by posting any new information here and/or to the liveaboards mailing list. I don't think we want to get into too much duplication here… the liveaboards' list is really focused on this issue, and it's the place to get the "deep scoop," as it were, and rather than copy everything from that group into this forum, we probably just want to cover the highlights and have some in-house discussion. Does that sound right? Feedback?

Hope everyone's phat an' sassy…

Daniel

[Steve P]

I suppose my position is divisive and may not win a lot of friends put I'll put it out there anyway.

Down in Olympia there are some pretty ratty boats with potted plants and such that never go anywhere and are of questionable seaworthiness. It looks like this Eagle Harbor has a similar problem. It's a shame that just a few boats make such a big impression. Up in Port Ludlow there's a guy living on a Ranger 26 with a dog and.... he clearly doesn't go anywhere often, and his boat lends a shabby air to the place that I'm sure the local and well off people on shore do not like. In Kinston there are boats permanently anchored with people living aboard. They don't look too bad, but the fact is they don't appear to ever leave for even an afternoons sail.

Then in the marinas we have barges that are not recreational boats and never go anywhere, and in my opinion bolster this impression of livaboards as squaters on public land. There are also regular boats so covered in junk it's clear they are unusable as recreational craft.

I'm a regular recreational user of my boat. It's fully functional and relatively attractive. I don't keep junk, dogs, or potted plants on the deck. I've lived aboard in California and would like to live aboard in Washington. But my ability to do so is affected by this small amount of people who IMO are not really boaters at all. It angers me to some extent that my ability to live aboard is affected by this.

Whenever I see potted plants and junk I get a little upset that these people can't see what they are doing to the rest of us who actually are boaters not just people looking for cheap waterfront living.

It's too subjective for me to have an opinion on how to enforce, I just wish people would be more considerate and responsible when living aboard. I would like to anchor and live aboard in Port Ludlow, the deck of my boat would always be clean and ready for sea, unfortunately the presence of one shabby looking boat there already makes me leary of adding to the problem.

Somehow I suspect that if you had a conversation with some of these folks you'd find they were completely ignorant of the livaboard issue and probably most everything else related to boating.

Perhaps with the anchoring thing it should be like parking on Seattle streets, 72 hours in one place and then it has to move. Maybe something to prevent the little armadas of junk boats strapped together like you see in Eagle Harbor would also be appropriate. If in a marina I honestly think a livaboard boat should not be allowed to have potted plants and junk on the deck or on the dock. This could be left to the harbor master to decide when enforcement was neccessary. Something has to be done, and the most unsightly and exploitive of the livaboards has to be brought into line before all livaboard rights are lost.

[skysailor]

Hi, Steve,

Well, it IS a divisive issue! It would be really nice if people would act responsibly, keep their boats neat and tidy, go out boating often, and live a lifestyle that doesn't offend anyone. Those who give our ilk a bad name should get a clue, take some pride in their boats and clean up their act. Unfortunately there are a few who don't seem to care much about any of that, and as you pointed out the fact that they're so visible doesn't help a lot.

But what about those responsible 'real' boaters, who love the life, perhaps have scrimped and saved and worked to get a nice boat to spend their autumn years on? They're great people, always use the pumpouts, keep their boat clean, can be found in just about any little cove, tucked away for the night… is it right to penalize them for the indiscretions and insensitivities of others? Isn't there a way to discourage abuses without shredding the dreams of the dreamers? Do we really have to effectively outlaw ALL living aboard boats outside of established and supervised marinas and anchorages? We already have laws against polluting, disturbing the peace, being a public nuisance and others that ought to suffice.

I've got a dog - he's an awesome dog, and my best buddy, and when I'm living aboard he's there with me. Would you have a law against me having my dog on board? Suppose I had a potted plant? Nothing really wrong with that, is there? No, it ain't about dogs or plants, or even the occasional dirty boat… it's when all this gets out of hand, we get "boat trash" flotillas, loud obnoxious parties, cruddy boats that never move… it's easy for us to look at a particular situation and say it's either cool or not, in our subjective opinion, but when you start to write laws that affect everyone it gets really hard to tell where to draw the lines. Seems to me like another case of a whole bunch of basically okay people losing their rights because of an irresponsible few eyesores. The problem is real, though perhaps not as prevalent or as bad as it is perceived to be, but I wish there was a better way to deal with it.

I've got a friend, for instance, who's got an old Monk cruiser, clean and sound but fairly dilapidated - he's just sort of a "broke-down ol' 'Nam vet" who wants nothing more than to be left alone. He and his wife live aboard, and though they're not the most social critters on the block, they're basically good people, care about their friends and the waters, and probably don't deserve to be forced off their boat. I wish there was a reasonable way to deal with all of this without hurting people, and without writing more and more laws that infringe more and more on our freedoms. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be one, and I guess I'm resigned to the present course… I just hope it can be done with as little pain and intrusion as possible.

Anyway, you certainly haven't alienated me by expressing your opinion here… I'm all for it! And I happen to agree with you on this, at least as far as not liking the shoddy image some people give boaters. I probably disagree on some other things, and think I'd be a little more tolerant and understanding of some of those liveaboards who don't keep their boats up too well, but I think it's really just a matter of degree.

Anyway, thanks for sharing your thoughts! This is good stuff, you've brought up a really valid concern that has been a major factor in this whole topic, and I hope you and others continue to be involved. And I hope you figure out a good solution to your own liveaboard situation!

Best Regards,

Daniel