WINDS OF CHANGE
12/18/2007 9:09:01 AM by Lisa Knapp
Introducing new, sensible legislation for boaters and marina operators is just another way Rep. Mitch Needelman protects Florida’s marinas and boat owners during hurricane season.
Florida State Representative Mitch Needelman has lived near the water all his life. He understands the predicaments that boaters and marinas face when a hurricane is coming. His 30-year career as a marine patrol officer makes him uniquely qualified to study the issue of moored vessels in the path of a storm, as his life’s work is dedicated to making South Florida’s waterways safe.
Now a congressman in Tallahassee, Needelman spearheaded new legislation in 2006 reversing laws passed after Hurricane Andrew. The old laws were intended to protect both boaters and marinas; however, they had an unintended, detrimental impact. For years on end, marina owners were restricted from protecting their property and moving boats in threatened areas to safer harbor. This resulted in many costly and unnecessary disasters.
The horrific 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons closed many marinas that were ravaged by incessant winds and run out of business. Since most marinas are uninsured, many sold their valuable waterfront properties to residential developers after Hurricanes Jeanne, Frances, Katrina and Wilma devastated the coast from Key West to Cocoa Beach. Needelman is a man of action and was up for steamrolling the legislation through, if he had too.
Prior to the new law’s passage, Needelman said that Florida was the only state that had legislation forbidding a marina operator from caring for his property. His bill makes boat owners responsible for their vessels in the marinas — without throwing them into the wild. If a boater fails to relocate their vessel, the new law allows marina owners the opportunity to protect the boat and their marina property, too. Needelman says it’s long overdue.
“Nowhere else in the nation are the rules as strict for marina operators in emergency occasions than in Florida,” he says. “The business world has changed drastically since the 1970s and to dictate to a marina owner how many boats, where the boats would be, where and how they should be moored is now contributing in the businessman’s model.”
Thirty- to 45-foot boats are small enough to be secured on land with forklifts. “There are opportunities to do that and we need to,” Needelman says. “I want to make sure we protect the marina owners while allowing boaters to maintain their rights in the middle of the storm. But if they fail to act, there are options for the marina owners to protect their property,” Needelman says, advocating dry storage solutions.
When he gets the chance, Needelman likes to cruise and go fishing. Most of the time, he is preoccupied with the fact that nearly every county in Florida has a lake in it, somewhere, with people boating on it — even if his dedication to boating prevents him from having the downtime to enjoy a day on the water. “In hurricane country, we have to think outside the box,” he says. “The real question is: Where do these boats go if a marina is not a safe refuge?” And with Needelman at the helm, it seems this will no longer be a problem.