Laserfiche WebLink
INDIAN RIVER COUNTY, FLORIDA <br />MEMORANDUM <br />TO: Board of County Commissioners <br />THROUGH: John A. Titkanich, Jr., County Administrator <br />THROUGH: Eric Charest, Interim Natural Resources Director <br />FROM: Melissa Meisenburg, Sr. Lagoon Environmental Specialist <br />SUBJECT: Anchoring Limitation Area Update <br />DATE: April 26, 2024 <br />DESCRIPTIONS AND CONDITIONS <br />Florida Statute 327.4108 grants a county the right to establish Anchoring Limitation Areas (ALA) <br />prohibiting the anchoring of a vessel for more than 45 consecutive days in a six-month period. <br />Anchoring limitation areas must be adjacent to urban areas with residential docking facilities <br />and significant recreational boating traffic. Each designated area must be less than 100 acres <br />with the cumulative ALA not to exceed ten percent of the county's delineated navigable -in -fact <br />waterway and may not include a mooring field or marina. The maximum number of acres <br />eligible for ALA designation in the County is 1,648. <br />The designated areas must be marked with waterway signs and buoys permitted and installed in <br />accordance with Florida Statutes 327.40 and 327.41 and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation <br />Commission (FWC) rules. Required permits include FWC, Florida Department of Environmental <br />Protection (FDEP), United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and the United States Coast <br />Guard (USCG). Signs must provide reasonable notice to boaters identifying the maximum <br />duration of anchoring and the county's ordinance. The size and shape of the anchoring <br />limitation area will determine the number of signs and buoys. Waterway marker signs must be <br />placed on each side or entry point within each designated zone of the ALA, with buoys placed <br />every 175 yards or less to mark the boundary. <br />Under Statute 327.4108, only a county is authorized to establish an ALA. Therefore, the City of <br />Vero Beach, the Town of Indian River Shores and the City of Sebastian passed resolutions in <br />2023, requesting the Board of County Commissioners to adopt the areas set forth in the <br />proposed maps (Attachments 1, 3 and 5) as areas of limited local anchoring. The establishment <br />of ALAS requires the development of a county ordinance, a minimum 30 -day notice to FWC of <br />the proposed public hearing date and the adoption of the ordinance. <br />Jurisdiction <br />Acreage <br />City of Sebastian <br />291.33 <br />Town of Indian River Shores <br />210 <br />City of Vero Beach <br />183.1 <br />Total <br />684.43 <br />94 <br />