Sec. 388.101. - Findings and legislative intent.

(a) Pursuant to F.S. § 327.60(3), (2019), the Florida Legislature has expressly authorized local governments to enact regulations that prohibit or restrict the mooring or anchoring of floating structures, live-aboard vessels, or commercial vessels(excluding commercial fishing vessels, as defined in F.S. § 327.02), within the local government's jurisdiction. (b) Insecure and improper mooring or anchoring of vessels on the waters of the county, particularly with no anchor watch, increases the danger of grounding and breaking loose of vessels and thereby endangers navigation, life and property; insecurely and improperly moored vessels have broken loose in the past and damaged bridges, structures, infrastructure and other valuable property. (c) Vessels on the waters of the county that remain anchored or moored in the same location for over ten days out of a 30-day period not under the supervision and control of a person capable of operating, maintaining, or moving it from one location to another, demonstrates that the vessel is no longer engaged in the exercise of navigation, and such vessels are known to be contributors to abandoned and derelict vessels and conflicts with the Public Trust Doctrine, which holds and protects sovereign submerged lands and the water column above it for the benefit and use of the public. (d) Unattended vessels that remain on the waters of the county, whether at-risk or derelict, through deterioration cause physical damage to the surrounding ecosystems through the proliferation of marine debris, or the threat of discharge of sewage, oil and/or hazardous substances into the marine environment, and cause damage to infrastructure, including collisions with docks, bridges, and power lines, and contribute to the obstruction and loss of use of the waterways, public docks and boat ramps and pose a risk to public safety and the environment. Prohibiting vessels from becoming unauthorized stored vessels on the waters of the county bears a rational relation to the legitimate government interest of protecting public safety on the waterways, promoting maritime tourism, protecting county infrastructure, preventing obstructions to navigation and protecting sovereign submerged lands and the water column above it for the benefit and use of the public. (e) Lost vessels and abandoned vessels present a threat to public health, safety and welfare, such as potential hazards to safe navigation and commercial or recreational use of county waters, sources of pollution of county waters, sources of degradation of the aesthetic value of county waters and shoreline, and hazards to waterfront property and public safety during severe weather. (f) The Floating Structures that have been observed in Duval County pose a significant threat to the environment, human health, and navigational safety as an obstruction to navigation through deterioration, physical damage to the surrounding ecosystems, through the proliferation of marine debris, or the threat of discharge of sewage, oil and/or hazardous substances into the marine environment, including materials left on the Floating Structure if abandoned, and the potential use of the structure as an illegal dumping site for oil and other hazardous substances. (g) The potential damage that a Floating Structure could cause the persons or property is significant because they are not regulated as vessels and thus are not required to meet even basic structural capability or to provide basic safety equipment for either their inhabitants or other mariners, such as lighting equipment that would warn other mariners using the waters of the county that an obstacle was present in the marine environment. (h) Floating Structures are not required by the State to register with the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, so ownership and liability for the damage that they may cause becomes a hindrance to enforcement. (i) Derelict vessels and vessels at risk of becoming derelict that have been observed in Duval County pose a significant threat to the environment, safe navigation, and commercial and recreational use of City waters and are sources of degradation of the aesthetic value of City waters and shoreline. Derelict vessels that remain on the waters of the county can become difficult and expensive to remove. (j) Pursuant to F.S. § 823.11, as amended from time to time, the City Council has the authority to provide by ordinance for the removal and disposition, including destruction, of derelict vessels, to promote the public safety, health, and welfare of the residents, and tourists and guests visiting or vacationing in Jacksonville, by reducing or eliminating the threats posed by derelict vessels. (k) Pursuant to F.S. Ch. 253, the Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund is vested and charged with, among other things, the administration, management, control, supervision, conservation and protection of all lands owned by the State by right of its sovereignty, including sovereign submerged lands. (l) Enabled by F.S. Ch. 253, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection ("FDEP") has promulgated Rule 18-21.004, Florida Administrative Code (2019), which outlines the general proprietary powers of the FDEP and instructs that the activities on sovereignty lands be, with very few exceptions as outlined in the statute, limited to water dependent activities, and that residential structures be prohibited on sovereignty lands. (m) The provisions of this Chapter are not intended and should not be construed as in any way superseding or attempting to conflict with applicable statutes, ordinances, rules or regulations of the federal government or of the State of Florida but are intended to supplement any such enactments or provisions. Pursuant to F.S. § 327.60(2)(h) (2023), if any provision described in this Chapter is deemed inconsistent with any Florida Statute, the provisions of the Florida Statute shall prevail. (n) It is the legislative intent of the City Council in enacting this Chapter to provide additional or supplemental means of obtaining compliance with the requirements stated herein. Nothing contained in this Chapter shall be deemed to prohibit the City from seeking enforcement by any other means provided by law, including, but not limited to, filing an action for declaratory and injunctive relief in a court of competent jurisdiction. (o) The Council in enacting this Chapter is acting as the governing body of Duval County, Florida. The area of enforcement of the provisions of this Chapter shall be on the waters of the county, as defined in this Part, throughout and within the boundaries of Duval County, Florida. The municipalities of Atlantic Beach, Neptune Beach, and Jacksonville Beach within Duval County are also authorized to administer and enforce the provisions of this Chapter either individually, or in partnership with the City or each other, or both. (Ord. 2025-432-E , § 1)