Miami-Dade County is about to vote on Ordinance File No. 261878, which would make it illegal for ANY vessel to anchor overnight — outside a marked mooring field — for more than 30 days total in any 6-month period. This applies to Biscayne Bay and all other county waters. The hearing is Tuesday, July 14, 2026, at 10:30 a.m. before the Recreation, Tourism, and Resiliency Committee.

The county says this is about cleaning up derelict and abandoned boats. But Miami-Dade already has a law for that — Section 7-37 of the County Code makes vessel abandonment a violation on its own. This new ordinance doesn't target derelicts. It targets everyone: liveaboards, long-term cruisers, and responsible boaters who simply can't afford a marina slip or can't get a spot in the county's very limited marinas and mooring fields.

Here's what's actually in the ordinance:

•     A hard 30-day-in-180-days limit on overnight anchoring anywhere outside a mooring field, no matter the condition of the boat or the conduct of the owner

•     Civil penalties starting at $500 for a first offense, $1,000 for a second, and $2,500 for a third — per day

•     No exemption for liveaboards or long-term cruisers, only for government vessels, active construction/dredging vessels, and commercial fishing vessels

Link to legislative file so you can read it yourself 

Miami-Dade's mooring fields and marinas don't have nearly enough capacity to absorb the boaters this would displace. Additionally the city moorings are unable to accommodate vessels larger than 50'.

Many of the boaters this ordinance would displace are responsible boaters and hardworking members of our community — people who maintain their vessels properly and work ashore in Miami-Dade. They rely on keeping their boat nearby to get to their jobs. If they're forced to move to another county or state to find lawful anchorage, they lose access to their own livelihoods, not just their homes.

Responsible boaters are not the problem. Derelict vessels are already illegal. This ordinance uses a real problem to justify punishing the wrong people, threatening the responsible liveaboard and cruising community that is part of Biscayne Bay's culture and economy.

We're asking the Board of County Commissioners and the Recreation, Tourism, and Resiliency Committee to reject Ordinance 260878 as written, or send it back for revision so that enforcement targets actual derelict and abandoned vessels — not every boater who anchors out.

Sign this petition to tell the county: enforce the laws you already have. Don't punish responsible boaters for a derelict-boat problem that a different law already covers.

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