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Enforcement of ‘big boat ban’ to begin
By David Goodwin
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After surviving nearly two years of legal challenges, the “Three Lakes Law,” which restricts the largest and fastest boats from Lake Martin and two other Alabama lakes, will be enforced starting this weekend.
Alabama Marine Police will be “actively identifying those vessels in violation, give them a warning and tell them to remove their boats from the lake,” Capt. Matt Brooks, district supervisor for the Marine Police’s Wind Creek State Park Office, said. “Officers will maintain a log of those vessels warned and any future violation would result in a citation.”
The boats outlawed by the law, according to the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, include:
•Any vessel exceeding 26 feet, 11 inches and capable of exceeding 60 mph.
•Any vessel exceeding 30 feet, 6 inches in length
•All houseboats or any recreational vessel that constitute a fully equipped dwelling similar in context to a mobile home, with a marine sanitation device, galley and sleeping quarters.
Houseboats and boats longer than 30 feet, 6 inches that were registered and in use on the lakes before July 1, 2006 will be “grandfathered in” and allowed to remain on lakes Martin, Weiss and Harris.
“There are several ways for our officers to tell whether a boat may meet the grandfathering requirements,” Brooks said. “Once we’ve determined that, then we’ll give them the necessary information to begin the permitting process.”
Violators of the ban will be given an initial warning if stopped by marine police, Brooks said. Lt. Erica Shipman of ADCNR said a second stop is a Class B misdemeanor punishable by fines that range from $100 to $1,000.
Shipman said marine police are in the process of finalizing requirements for the permitting process of grandfathered boats.
A boat manufacturers’ industry group filed suit against the law in July 2006. Montgomery County Circuit Judge Johnny Hardwick upheld the ban as constitutional in March 2008.
A bill to extend the ban to Lake Jordan in western Elmore County, introduced by Rep. Barry Mask, failed to get out of committee during the 2007 Legislative session.
