§200-10  Permits and fees for state small
boat harbors.  (a)  No person shall moor a vessel in a state small boat
harbor without:



(1)  First obtaining a use permit from the department;
and



(2)  Being the owner of the vessel.



(b)  In order to obtain a permit or a permit
renewal, the owner of a vessel shall provide, at the owner's own expense:



(1)  A marine surveyor's inspection no more than two
years old, certifying that the surveyor has inspected the vessel and considers
it to fulfill the requirements set by the department; and



(2)  Documentation that the person is the owner of the
vessel.  The documentation shall meet requirements established by the
department.



(c)  The permittee shall pay moorage fees to
the department for the use permit that shall be based on, but not limited to,
the use of the vessel, its effect on the harbor, use of facilities, and the
cost of administering this mooring program; and, furthermore:



(1)  Moorage fees shall be established by the
department and shall be higher for nonresidents;



(2)  An application fee shall be collected when
applying for moorage in state small boat harbors and shall thereafter be
collected annually when the application is renewed.  The application fee shall
be:



(A)  Set by the department; and



(B)  Not less than $100 for nonresidents;



(3)  If a recreational vessel is used as a place of
principal habitation, the permittee shall pay, in addition to the moorage fee,
a liveaboard fee that shall be calculated at a rate of:



(A)  $5.20 a foot of vessel length a month if
the permittee is a state resident; and



(B)  $7.80 a foot of vessel length a month if
the permittee is a nonresident;



provided that the liveaboard fees established by
this paragraph may be increased by the department at the rate of the annual cost-of-living
index, but not more than five per cent in any one year, beginning
January 1 of each year; and



(4)  If a vessel is used for commercial purposes from
its permitted mooring, the permittee shall pay, in lieu of the moorage and
liveaboard fee, a fee based on three per cent of the gross revenues derived
from the use of the vessel or two times the moorage fee assessed for a
recreational vessel of the same size, whichever is greater.



(d)  The department shall not renew or issue a
permit to a person who is not the owner of the vessel which is moored or which
the person desires to moor in a state small boat harbor.  Any individual who is
an owner of a vessel used for commercial purposes, including commercial fishing
as a principal means of livelihood, and possesses a valid mooring permit or
commercial permit, or both, in accordance with the rules adopted by the
chairperson pursuant to chapter 91, may transfer ownership of the vessel from
personal ownership to corporate or other business ownership without terminating
the right to moor or operate the vessel under the permit or permits.  The
existing permit or permits shall be reissued in the name of the transferee
corporation or other business entity.



For the purposes of this section,
"person" means any individual, firm, partnership, corporation, trust,
association, joint venture, organization, institution, or any other legal
entity, and "owner" includes the legal owner of a vessel where there
is no security interest held by anyone on the vessel, a buyer under a purchase
money security interest, a debtor under any security interest, a demise
charterer of a vessel, or a lessee or charterer of a vessel under a lease or
charter which provides the lessee or charterer with exclusive right to
possession of the vessel to the exclusion of the lessor or the person from whom
the vessel is chartered.  No permittee shall be allowed to moor a leased vessel
in a berth unless the terms of the lease are set at fair market value.  A
"legal owner" includes a person who holds unencumbered title to a
vessel or is a secured party under a security interest in the vessel.  An owner
who is issued a permit to moor a vessel in a state small boat harbor shall
notify the department in writing of a transfer of interest or possession in the
vessel within seven days of transfer.



Any person owning an interest in a corporation
or other business entity possessing a valid commercial permit issued by the
department, in accordance with rules adopted by the chairperson pursuant to
chapter 91, may transfer any or all stock or other interest to another person
without terminating the right of the corporation or business entity to retain
or renew its commercial permit or any other permit issued to it by the
department; provided that:



(1)  The corporation or business entity has been
engaged in the same commercial vessel activity, as defined in section 200-9,
for a minimum of one year; and



(2)  The seller shall pay the department a business
transfer fee based on the passenger-carrying capacity of the vessels owned or
operated by the corporation or business entity as provided by rules adopted by
the chairperson pursuant to chapter 91.



Any person possessing a commercial permit shall be
required to meet minimum revenue standards, as a condition of retaining or renewing
the commercial permit.



(e)  The department may designate moorage space
within state small boat harbors to accommodate commercial fishing vessels and
transient vessels.



(f)  All revenues from the foregoing operations
shall be deposited in the boating special fund. [L 1991, c 272, pt of §2; am L
2005, c 126, §1]



 



Case Notes



 



  A vessel and its
accompanying mooring and live-aboard permits are constitutionally protected
"property", of which an individual may not be deprived without notice
and an opportunity to be heard.  91 H. 1, 979 P.2d 586.