ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – Anchoring a boat in a mooring field in St. Augustine, where spots are designated for boaters to anchor, costs $20 a day. But under some new proposals that the city is looking at, more boaters will be asked to pay up or leave city limits.
"I think more people would use the mooring fields and make the waterways safer if it was a little cheaper," said CJ Holland, who's been living on her boat for the last few years.
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In the mooring fields, boaters must anchor their boats, though they are not allowed to use their own anchor.
"Probably the most controversial rule that we have addressed that's specific to St. Augustine," Jim Piggott, of the city of St. Augustine, said of the mooring fields.
Piggott said the city is trying to promote the use of mooring fields because leaders believe they're safer, especially during storms.
The new rule would be that if an occupied boat is outside of a mooring field for 10 days but is still within city limits, it will have to be moved either into the mooring field, where the boaters will have to pay $20 a day or leave city limits altogether.
Not everyone thinks that's fair.
"One of my joys is to go somewhere and throw out an anchor and be self-sufficient and enjoy the locality of everything without having to pay a marina or a city," said Sherri Eddy, who lives and travels on her boat.
Eddy argues boaters should be able to have a choice in what they do and at a better price.
"I think that could very well deter people from coming to St. Augustine," Eddy said.
But Piggott says that boaters not only get a lot of services for that $20, but he says that having the mooring field in place has helped reduce the number of abandoned or derelict boats in those waters. Piggott said that has already saved the more than $100,000.
"After we put the mooring field in, the derelict boat number has dropped drastically," he said.
"I think that could very well deter people from coming to St. Augustine," Eddy said.
The issue will be addressed by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission at its next meeting, which is in November in Key West. Once it's approved, it will go back to the city of St. Augustine for a final reading and approval.
If all goes to plan, the new rules would start in January.
The following are the goals of the pilot program, as outlined by the state:
- Promote the establishment and use of public mooring fields
- Promote public access to the waters of this state
- Enhance navigational safety
- Protect maritime infrastructure
- Protect marine environment
- Deter improperly stored, abandoned or derelict vessels
Here's a list of the City Proposed Ordinances: