TITLE XXII
NAVIGATION; HARBORS; COAST SURVEY

CHAPTER 270
SUPERVISION OF NAVIGATION; REGISTRATION OF BOATS AND MOTORS; COMMON CARRIERS BY WATER

Mooring of Boats on Public Waters

Section 270:59

    270:59 Definitions. –
In this subdivision:
I. "Director" means the director, division of state police, department of safety.
II. "Division" means the division of state police, department of safety.

[Paragraph III effective until January 1, 2026; see also paragraph III set out below.]


III. "Mooring" when used as a noun, means a mooring anchor, or other fixed object or stationary point, with or without a mooring buoy together with attached chains, cables, ropes, and pennants and related equipment used for the purpose of securing watercraft.

[Paragraph III effective January 1, 2026; see also paragraph III set out above.]


III. "Mooring" when used as a noun, means a mooring anchor, or other fixed object or stationary point, with or without a mooring buoy together with attached chains, cables, ropes, and pennants and related equipment used for the purpose of securing watercraft; or any spuds, lifts, or other devices which are an integral part of the vessel and being used to secure a boat to the bottom of the public waters of the state in lieu of a dock or pier.
IV. "Mooring anchor" means any anchor or weight which is designed to rest on the bed or to be buried in the bed of a navigable water body, which is designed to be attached by a chain, cable, rope, or other mechanism to a mooring buoy and which is designed to be left in position permanently or on a seasonal basis.
V. "Mooring area" means an area which has been designated as an appropriate location for a concentration of individually permitted moorings to be placed.
VI. "Mooring buoy" means any float or marker which is attached to a mooring anchor and either is suitable for attachment to a boat through the use of a pennant or other device or facilitates the attachment of the boat to the mooring anchor.
VII. "Mooring field" means any group of 5 or more moorings with individual moorings located according to a plan and maintained by an individual, organization, business, or governmental entity which is responsible for assignment of mooring locations and general supervision of the mooring field.
VIII. "Shorefront property" means any property recognized as a legal building lot by a municipality, having shore frontage on public waters. "Shorefront property" shall include:
(a) A lot on the public waters that is divided by a road so that the buildable portion of the lot is on the opposite side of the road from the public waters or divided by an exclusive right-of-way which has been acquired as a result of an eminent domain proceeding which resulted in the break or loss of property between the property owner's residence and shore frontage.
(b) A lot of record with not less than 50 feet of frontage. A lot with less than 50 feet of frontage may be included if the lot owner obtains the written consent of the abutting property owner that the abutting property may be included in the footage calculation. Such consent shall be signed by both parties, notarized and filed with the mooring application. Shorefront property shall not mean a deeded right-of-way, nor shall it mean lots not contiguous to the shore with any other type of legal shorefront access. For the purposes of this subdivision, property owned in common by condominium associations or other groups shall be deemed owned by the group and shall not convey any rights under this subdivision to its individual members.
IX. "Public mooring field" means a mooring field that is not a congregate mooring field.
X. "Congregate mooring field" means a mooring field dedicated to homogeneous use group.
XI. "Small mooring sites" means sites consisting of 2 to 4 moorings, inclusive.

Source. 1987, 324:1. 1989, 284:2, 3. 1995, 240:1, 2, eff. Aug. 18, 1995. 2011, 224:257, eff. July 1, 2011. 2025, 50:1, eff. Jan. 1, 2026.