Mendocino County Municipal Code Ch. 14.12 Regulation of Watercraft

A. Local use regulations of the coastal estuaries within Mendocino County relating to watercraft of various types are authorized by Sections 268 and 660 of the California Harbors and Navigation Code. Utilization of these resources should be done in a manner which protects the resource from degradation as an ecological, visual and recreational resource. The provisions of this Chapter relating to the use of watercraft are, therefore, necessary to the preservation of the public peace, safety, health and welfare.

B. The purpose of this Chapter is to exercise the police power in order to protect the coastal river estuaries within Mendocino County as an aesthetic, recreational and fish and wildlife resource so that it may be enjoyed by the citizens of this County.

C. In addition to the regulations contained in this Chapter, use of the coastal estuaries shall be governed by all applicable sections of the California Harbors and Navigation Code as the same may be from time to time amended, and all applicable regulations of the Department of Boating and Waterways and the United States Coast Guard as they may be from time to time amended. To the extent that a conflict might exist between this Chapter and any of the aforementioned statutes or regulations, enforcement shall be based on the most strict provision found within this Chapter, the statutes, or regulations.

(Ord. No. 3783, adopted 1991.)

The following words and phrases, for the purposes of this Chapter, shall have the meanings respectively ascribed to them by this section:

A. "Motorized vessel" means any boat or vessel whose principal means of propulsion is by an internal combustion, electrical or mechanical engine, either inboard or outboard.

B. "Personal watercraft" means any motorized vessel which has an internal combustion engine powering a water jet pump or a fully-covered propeller chamber as its primary source of motor propulsion, and which is designed to be operated by a person sitting, standing or kneeling on the vessel rather than the conventional manner of sitting or standing inside the vessel. The term shall include, but not be limited to, those vessels commonly known as "Jet-Skis," "Wet Bikes," "Surf Jets" and "Sea-Doo."

C. "Coastal estuaries" means all estuaries located within Mendocino County including but not limited to Big River, Caspar, Noyo, Navarro, Gualala, Ten Mile, and Albion, their bays from headland to headland and their rivers for a distance of seven (7) miles inland from the mouth of the rivers.

(Ord. No. 3783, adopted 1991.)

No person shall operate any motorized vessel at a speed in excess of five (5) miles per hour in any coastal estuary. Speed of the motorized vessel shall be measured in relationship to any adjacent land mass, and may be measured by the utilization of a radar speed-measuring device.

(Ord. No. 3783, adopted 1991.)

Personal watercraft are prohibited from operation in coastal estuaries.

(Ord. No. 3783, adopted 1991.)

The regulations contained in this Chapter shall not apply to any motorized vessel or personal watercraft owned, operated or controlled by the United States, any California State agency or by any local governmental agency within Mendocino County engaged in bona fide emergency or rescue operations or other operations conducted solely to protect public health and safety.

(Ord. No. 3783, adopted 1991.)

Violations of this chapter are declared to be infractions and punished as prescribed in Government Code Section 25132.

(Ord. No. 3783, adopted 1991.)