Public Comment Sought for Monroe Anchoring Ordinance in Florida
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) is requesting public comment for the next one-and-a-half weeks on the proposed anchoring and mooring ordinance for Monroe County.
Monroe County was chosen as a site for a legislatively directed anchoring and mooring pilot program, as were Martin County and its city of Stuart, and Sarasota, St. Augustine and St. Petersburg.
The goal of the program is to explore potential options for regulating the anchoring or mooring of non-live-aboard vessels outside the boundaries of public mooring fields. Among other things, this should help promote public access to Florida’s waters, enhance navigational safety and protect the marine environment.
The local government for each participant site is responsible for soliciting public input for its ordinance-development process. Monroe County has held public-input meetings to gather suggestions and information on local problems related to anchoring and mooring in the area.
The FWC’s role is to provide consultation and technical assistance. The Monroe County ordinance has been posted at MyFWC.com/Boating (click on “Anchoring & Mooring”), and members of the public are asked to provide comments through July 23. The site also contains more information on the pilot program, or people may call 850-488-5600.
The Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission came into existence on July 1, 1999 - the result of a constitutional amendment approved in the 1998 General Election as part of the package proposed by the Constitution Revision Commission.
In the implementation of the Constitutional Amendment, the Florida Legislature combined all of the staff and Commissioners of the former Marine Fisheries Commission, elements of the Divisions of Marine Resources and Law Enforcement of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, and all of the employees and Commissioners of the former Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission.
Five years later, after consulting stakeholders, employees and other interested parties, the FWC adopted a new internal structure to address complex conservation issues of the new century. The new structure focuses on programs, such as habitat management, that affect numerous species. It will focus on moving the decision-making process closer to the public and did not require any additional funding or additional positions.
