Maine § 7-A. - Waiting lists; nonresident moorings

§ 7-A.. Waiting lists; nonresident moorings

1.  Waiting lists.  If a municipality receives more applications for mooring privileges on state-owned lands that are controlled by its rules or ordinances than there are mooring spaces, the municipality shall assign spaces as they become available from a waiting list or lists according to its rules or ordinances, except as provided in this section. Waiting lists in effect at the time that this section becomes law may continue in effect, but persons shall be selected from those lists in accordance with the allocation provisions of this section. If at the time a person applies for a mooring there is no waiting list, this person may be assigned a mooring without regard to the allocation provisions of this section.

2.  Allocations to nonresidents.  If there are applicants who are nonresidents who wish to moor a vessel the principal use of which is noncommercial and less than 10% of the moorings are currently assigned to persons fitting this description, the next mooring available shall be assigned to the first such person on the list. If there are applicants who are nonresidents who wish to moor a vessel the principal use of which is commercial and less than 10% of the assigned moorings are currently assigned to persons fitting this description, the next mooring available shall be assigned to the first such person on the list. If both nonresident noncommercial and nonresident commercial assignments are below 10% and there are both types of applicants on the waiting list, the available space shall be assigned to an applicant in the category that is the farthest below 10%. The burden of proof in determining residence and the principal use of a vessel shall be upon the applicant.

Each year, persons with mooring assignments shall report to the harbor master their anticipated residency status for the next year and whether they anticipate the principal use of their boats to be commercial or noncommercial. The harbor master shall update the percentage of mooring holders in each category from this data.  

It is not a requirement of this section that a person lose a current mooring assignment to meet the objectives of this section.  

Shorefront property owners shall be assigned mooring privileges as established in section 3.  

If the mooring fee charged to nonresidents exceeds $20 a year, the fee charged shall be reasonable in relation to the costs involved in providing that mooring and shall not exceed 5 times the amount charged to residents.  

This subsection shall be construed broadly in order to accomplish the distribution of moorings to nonresidents as specified in this section.