The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Boat storage proposal put on hold
Questions arise about ‘sea-worthy’ vessels that aren’t used for a season
Mentor leaders are putting the brakes on a proposed law to address junk vehicles, at least temporarily.
City Council left on first reading legislation that would add watercrafts to an ordinance defining property maintenance.
Ward 3 Councilman Bruce Landeg asked that no action be taken to allow more time for feedback. Two residents expressed concern about the proposal as well.
The ordinance amendment states that no owner or occupant of any premises shall maintain or permit to be maintained at or on the exterior property any of the following unless authorized by a zoning or conditional-use permit:
• Broken or dilapidated fences, walls or other structures
• Out-of-use or non-usable appliances and vehicle or vessel parts
• Any unlicensed or junk vehicle or vessel.
Landeg noted that the “vessel” definition includes canoes, kayaks and rowboats. He questioned the need to register “sea-worthy” boats that are not being used for a time.
“My next-door neighbor’s son was in scouting for several of years, and they canoed frequently,” he said. “Now he’s gone off to college and so I don’t think the licensure is kept up, and though it’s
sea-worthy, the way we are writing this, that would become a junk vessel by definition, because he doesn’t maintain a registration.”
Law Director Richard A. Hennig said he would simply need to update his registration, which is required every three years.
“Right now, we don’t have any way to address vessels that have been abandoned or improperly stowed under our code, and, to me, that seems to be a glaring error, and it only came up after 15 years because we had an issue,” he said.
Resident Tom Rapini spoke in opposition.
“When you write a very broad-reaching ordinance like this — an ordinance that, by the way, literally
thousands of Mentor boat owners will be in violation of the minute it passes — you step into everyone’s life and you impose restrictions on their actions,” he said. “Restrictions that require them to comply with a relatively broad definition of the words ‘nuisance’ and ‘eyesore.’ ”
Resident and boater Deb Kuivila took issue with the word “unlicensed.”
“I’m a member of United
States Power Squadron, where I’ve taught public boating classes that license people to operate a vessel,” she said. “Vessels are not licensed, they are titled and registered. Operators of vessels, boats are licensed.”
She also questioned the need to register when using small watercrafts on private waters and times when boaters are unable to use their boat for a season.
“I have a big vessel,” she
said. “When my son was born in July, I knew well in advance I wasn’t going to put that big vessel in the water that whole summer, so I didn’t license it that year. Does that mean it’s a junk vessel? Does that mean I need to find a structure to hide it in because I’m not using it? Maybe you have a year with a sick family member, or a year when (you) don’t want to pay $4.50 for gas.”
She and Rapini also farm
their land and had a problem with tractors being included among potential junk vehicles in the law.
“No tractors in the state are licensed,” Kuivila said. “There’s no such thing as a license for a tractor.”
Boats currently may be stored on residential property in a side yard on a proper surface, if covered, Hennig said. He said the large majority of problems involve junk cars.