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The mooring field adjacent to the Sailing Squadronuplands property was originally permitted for 38 mooringsmany years ago. Over the ensuing years, individuals haveplaced moorings in the field and have sought membershipin the Squadron to access these moorings by dinghies fromthe Squadron property. There are now about 120 mooringsin total and about 80 plus boats occupying these moorings.The Squadron recognized its interest in getting a handle onthis situation and attempted to insure safe moorings for allthe boats in the field and to the adjacent shoreline property.An application was made to the state to obtain managementrights of the mooring field of 120.The Squadron had embarked on this process over 10years ago. This process has been marked by delays, diversionsand a fair amount of members’ cash, mostly in theform of application fees to the state and legal fees foradvice. A year ago, the state of Florida granted a “TUP,” orTemporary Usage Permit. This permit gave the Squadrontwelve months to complete all phases of its application andgranted rights to self-manage the field during this periodwhile the application was being reviewed.Members were surprised to learn last week of the state’sdenial of the application, because the Squadron worked withthe local staff members of the Florida Department ofEnvironmental Protection to process the application andadvised the Squadron about the proper procedures. Theselocal DEP staffers made the mooring field presentation to theGovernor’s Board of Trustees on the Squadron’s behalf, andbecause of their advice and help, the Squadron was confidentthat the application would be approved.The proposal in the application had been clear in theintention to make the field “open to the public” as requiredby law. In fact, a similar public access policy had beenapproved by the state for the Coconut Grove Sailing Club’smooring field in Miami.The additional statement that our field did not provideaccess to powerboats and commercial craft came as a realsurprise. There was no indication that the state even hadsuch a requirement. Our attorney recently confirmed thatno such rule existed at the time of application.We are unable to fathom why the Board of Trustees inTallahassee denied a permit, which seems consistent withother permits within the state of Florida. The Squadron hadpartnered with the city of Sarasota and the city is listed as a“co-applicant” with the Squadron.It is true that since our field would be operated on a“cost basis” and would be “not for profit,” our rates wouldlikely be somewhat below market rates, but that issue surelywould not have been a factor in the denial.And now for the tricky part: During this process, theSquadron made both the city and the state aware that thereare no records to indicate who the original 38 mooring holdersare. The state required that in the event the permit isdenied, the Squadron is obligated to notify the offending 82mooring holders to remove their boats and ground tackleand to vacate the field. Failure of a mooring holder to complywill result in the state requiring the Squadron to denymembership in the Sailing Squadron. The state can also levydaily fines against an offending mooring holder. This raisestwo questions: Since the Squadron does not know who the38 “permitted” mooring holders are, which 82 offendersdoes the state require the Sailing Squadron to notify? Andwhere are the 82 “offenders” to go for alternate mooringswithin the city of Sarasota?City boaters continue to wait for completion of thecity’s state-approved mooring field installation, which hasbeen plagued by cost overruns, failure of the original contractorto supply moorings as specified and by extensivedelays over the last few years. All this has occurred whilethe “other” mooring field across the bay in Sarasota at theSquadron has quietly provided low-cost water access toboaters in Sarasota for years.Correction on FWC Mooring Field Pilot Programs DatesWe printed incorrect dates on the FWC pilot program foranchoring near mooring fields (statute 327.4105). In onearticle, I wrote that the FWC will report to the governor andlegislature by January 1, 2014, at which time the local regulationsenacted by the five area pilot programs will terminate.That is correct—except the rules will still be in effectuntil July 1, 2014, after which date the rules will expire,unless the state reenacts the program or adopts statewiderules. One of the main purposes of the program is to havestatewide rules so that boaters will not have to know thedifferent regulations for every mooring field around thestate. For the exact law and more information, go towww.myfwc.com/boating/anchoring-mooring.News & Views for Southern Sailors SOUTHWINDS June 2012 29