https://www.obawebsite.com/proposed-legislation-would-change-no-wake-zones-statewde
John Mullen • Jan 23, 2021
Sen. Elliott says proposal wouldn’t work in coastal areas
(OBA®) – A new proposal being planned for the upcoming session of the Alabama Legislature could have an effect on boating throughout the state but a local senator says it could have even more impact on coastal Alabama.
“They’re trying to essential codify no-wake zones around incidences that occur,” Sen. Chris Elliott, R-Daphne, said. “If there’s a swimmer in the water then you’ve got a 100-foot no wake zone around that swimmer. If you’ve got a dock or a pier you’ve got a 100-foot area around that automatically by statute. You’ve got a boat that’s anchored it’s 100 feet from that boat.”
Rep. Ginny Shaver, R-Leesburg, is the sponsor of the house bill and said she believes in wake of the increases in boating accidents and fatalities the new rules are needed.
“The record number of deaths on our waterways in 2019 proves we have a serious need for updating our boating safety laws in the state of Alabama,” Shaver said in an email to the OBA Community Website. “I have partnered with the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency in drafting this bill to address a few areas for improving safety on our waterways and protecting the shorelines.”
She says one of the reasons behind her effort are the incidents that take place primarily in the Gulf Coast region.
“Due to the concentrated population and large number of recreational vessels, about a third of the deaths and almost a quarter of the accidents occurred in the gulf area,” Shaver said. “The safety of Alabama residents and visitors is a top priority.”
But Elliott, a lifelong resident of the Gulf Coast and an avid boater, said the law would create more chaos rather help limit accidents.
“I’ve forwarded the proposed legislation to the coastal municipalities who deal with more boat traffic than anywhere else in the state,” Elliott said. “They’ve got some concerns. I appreciate what the house is trying to do on this and the representative. We just need to sit down and really think about how it impacts our area before we move forward with it and I look forward to trying to have those conservations. But I think we definitely need to wrap in the folks in Orange Beach and Gulf Shores so that they can let their two cents be heard. They are reviewing the bill and I intend to kind of hold up on it until they’ve had their say.”
Some of the floating “no-wake” zones would not only be hard to enforce, Elliott said, but people may take advantage of the law by creating their own zones through the law.
“Somebody said if I take my boat and anchor it out in front of my pier and instead of a 100-foot no-wake zone I can have 200?” Elliott said. “And the answer is yes, if this passed that would be what happened. What if I took another boat and anchored out there and then put a swimmer out from there? The next thing you know you can statutorily create huge no-wake zones where one didn’t exist before and that would just bog things down and make it unbearable.”
The proposed no-wake rules are 100 feet for boats and 50 feet for personal watercraft. Those are:
- A moored or anchored boat or any boat that is adrift
- A dock, pier, or bridge
- A person in the water
- The shoreline adjacent to a residence
- A public park or beach
- A marina, restaurant, or other public use area
- A vessel designated for use by a law enforcement officer while making use of visual signals while alongside
Elliott says he is all for voter safety but the Alabama Gulf Coast is a different boating world that what most of the state entails.
“I understand what they are trying to do and as someone who’s grown up around the water and been around the water my entire life that’s probably good seamanship,” Elliott said. “The problem in an area with as dense a boating population as us, you’ve got a skier that falls down all of a sudden, you’ve got a no-wake zone. They want to turn all these incidences, these occurrences into automatic no-wake zones. Enforcement becomes an issue.”
The bill didn’t get out of the Public Safety and Homeland Security committee during the COVID-19 shortened 2020 legislative session. Shaver is from Cherokee County in northeast Alabama and is home to Lake Weiss, renowned for crappie fishing and is on the Coosa River.
“I appreciate the input of all stakeholders as we try to find workable solutions to address safety concerns, while preserving our way of life on the water,” Shaver said in her email.
Baldwin County is an avid boating community and two new boat launches are on the drawing board for south Baldwin. One by the Beach Express toll bridge is paid for and phase one has been mapped out. In phase one of the project there will be 4 ramps, 140 boat trailer parking spots, 28 car parking spots and bathroom facilities. A total of six boat ramps is planned for later phases of the project along with 210 boat trailer parking spots and 40 car parking spots.
“We’ve gotten over $10 million in state GOMESA funding for the mega launch,” Elliott said. “I think that’s just going to be a tremendous relief on citizens in Lillian, Elberta and Josephine and certainly Orange Beach from the Cotton Bayou ramp to Boggy Point ramp. You’re not only going to see the boating traffic concentrated in those areas but you’re not going to see the vehicle traffic hauling a boat to those areas. I think that’s going to alleviate a lot of problems and a lot of stress.”
GOMESA is the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act money from oil and gas leases paid out to states on the Gulf Coast.
The second is planned for the Bon Secour River near Billy’s Seafood and is still in the permitting process. Once it is known what will be allowed at the launch the county will have it designed and then know how many launches and parking spots will be there. This project is funded with county commission money.