(A) Requisites of permits and rules and regulations governing same.
(1) It shall be unlawful for any person to use, occupy or tie a boat to any part of the properties owned by Northampton County and known as the Willis Wharf Harbor and Boat Ramp Facility without first having obtained a lease, permit or license for such use or occupation from the Board, or its duly designated agent.
(2) All leases, permits, or licenses for the use or occupation of boat slips or wharfage shall be in writing on forms authorized by the Board and submitted to the Committee for review and transmittal to the County Administrator for approval.
(3) All fees for leases, licenses, or permits shall become due on July 1 each year commencing with July 1, 1985 initially, except all fees for leases, licenses, and permits will be due on October 1, 1984,
which is the scheduled opening of the facility. All fees are non-returnable, except as may be provided for in the lease agreement.
(4) No lessee may sublet a boat slip to another person; provided, however, that with permission from the Committee, the lessee may permit another person to moor a boat on a temporary basis.
(5) All fees charged for mooring, tying up, wharfage and use of harbor facilities shall be established by the Board upon recommendation by the Committee.
(6) All fees and charges collected by the Board shall be spent for improvements, repairs and upkeep of the Willis Wharf Harbor and its facilities upon recommendations made by the Committee. The Committee shall file annually with the Board, beginning June 1, 1985, a report on the status of the harbor facility.
(B) Permits required for erection of structures.
(1) It shall be unlawful to erect any type of structure in the waters of the harbor, access channel, or within the bulkhead line thereof or on the land area of the facility without first securing a permit by the Committee. Any authorized structure or appurtenance shall be installed at the expense of the person or persons causing the construction thereof. The structure or appurtenances shall become the property of Northampton County, Virginia. The subject structure appurtenances shall be constructed or installed in keeping with specifications to be approved in advance by the Committee.
(C) General dumping and disposal of wrecks.
(1) It shall be unlawful to deposit, or to cause or permit to be deposited, in any of the waters of the harbor, in the boat ramp, or in the boat trailer parking area, or along the shores thereof, or in any of the streams or ditches emptying therein, or on any of the land adjacent or contiguous to the harbor, any refuse, offal, waste matter, or other substance or material, whether earth, oil, liquid, animal, fish or vegetable matter, or other matter that may injuriously affect the sanitary, clean and safe condition of the land area or water in the harbor, or diminish the depth thereof.
(2) It shall be unlawful to voluntarily or carelessly sink, or permit or cause to be sunk, any barges, scows or other craft in the waters of the harbor or to float loose timber and logs therein. Whenever a vessel or other craft is wrecked and sunk in any of the waters of the harbor, accidentally or otherwise, it shall be the duty of the owner of such sunken craft to immediately mark it with a buoy and a lighted lantern at night and to maintain such marks until the sunken craft is removed, and the neglect or failure of the owner to so mark the wreck shall be unlawful; it shall be unlawful for the owners of such sunken craft not to commence the immediate removal of same and prosecute such removal diligently.
(D) Boat ramp and land area usage.
(1) The use of the boat ramp and adjacent parking area is for the pleasure of all users of the Willis Wharf Harbor Facility; however, no unloading, loading, or storage of seafood products or by-products, nets, poles, dredges, or culling of products is permitted. At the discretion of the Committee, temporary variances may be granted when an emergency exists or there is other just cause therefor.
(2) Overnight habitation of parked vans, automobiles, trucks, mobile homes, carrier trailers, or other recreational vehicles or apparatus, including tents, is prohibited.
(E) Designated loading/unloading wharfage areas.
(1) At the discretion of the Committee, a specified area for the loading/unloading of both commercial and pleasure boats is to be designated and so marked for identification.
(2) Except in an emergency, it shall be unlawful to use the loading/unloading wharfage area for the mooring of boats except in the area provided therefor. In the case of an urgency, the mooring shall be as approved by the Committee or its designated agent.
(F) Use of harbor for anchoring or tying-up.
(1) No boat shall be moored or anchored inside the harbor or along the access channel without the permission of the Committee or its designated agent.
(2) No boat shall operate or be moored or anchored in such a manner as to obstruct the passage, approach, berthing, or anchoring of other boats.
(3) Fees may be charged for anchoring or tying-up in the harbor by the Committee when authorized by the Board or its designated agent.
(G) Speed limits. All boats entering, leaving, or moving about in the harbor shall be operated in such a manner as not to create a swell sufficient to cause damage to the other boats or crafts anchored, tied up, or plying in the harbor or to the fastenings thereof.
(Ord. passed 9-10-1984) Penalty, see § 91.99