Sec. 388.501. - Findings and legislative intent.

(a) Pursuant to F.S. § 327.60 (2023), as amended from time to time, the Florida Legislature has expressly authorized local governments to enact and enforce regulations to implement the procedures for abandoned or lost property that allow the local law enforcement agency to remove a vessel affixed to a public dock or mooring within its jurisdiction that is abandoned or lost property pursuant to F.S. § 705.103(1). Such regulation must require the local law enforcement agency to post a written notice at least 24 hours before removing the vessel. (b) Abandoned vessels 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. (c) Vessels which are not under the supervision and control of a person capable of operating, maintaining, or moving it from one location to another and which remain anchored or moored in the same location for over ten days out of a 30-day period demonstrates that such vessels are no longer engaged in the exercise of navigation, and should be classified as unauthorized stored vessels. (d) The abandonment of vessels 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. (e) Prohibitions on lost or abandoned vessels serve to promote public health, safety and welfare by reducing or eliminating the threats posed by lost vessels and abandoned vessels, through the exercise of the authority granted to the City pursuant to F.S. Ch. 705. (Ord. 2025-432-E , § 7)