Pittsburgh Public Docking Ordinance
Tuesday, January 15, 2008



ASK CAPTAIN GEORGE - JANUARY 2008

I have just been reminded that the 2008 Pittsburgh Boat Show is right around the corner and the Pittsburgh boaters are, indeed, thinking about the upcoming season and making plans for all the activities that they will be enjoying on the water as soon as the warm weather peeks through the snow.

So, this would be a good time to bring you up to date on matters that may affect your usage of the waterways.

As many of you readers know, I am the Executive Director of an organization that advocates for the rights of recreational boaters and its name is "Boaters Are Voters" . In that capacity, I have been involved in several meetings concerning the City of Pittsburgh's interest in forming a new ORDINANCE that will pertain to recreational boaters use of the dockage areas in the PITTSBURGH POOL which encompasses all the waterfront areas that are City of Pittsburgh property.

Members of City Planning and their legal counsel have proposed that an ordinance be enacted whereby any boater who wishes to use City dockage areas to tie up for any length of time will be required to obtain a permit from the City for this purpose. Three meetings have already been held to explore the pros and cons of this proposed ORDINANCE, and, after many objections and suggestions from myself and other interested parties, some changes have been made that I believe will make the ORDINANCE more boater friendly.

There will be at least one more meeting held prior to formulating an initial draft of the ORDINANCE and I hope to see that some additional changes are made to insure that no laws will be passed that are unfriendly to recreational boating in the PITTSBURGH POOL. When it comes time for the Public Hearings, I hope any interested boater will attend and add your voice and opinion to influence the political process. I intend to keep involved and represent the recreational boaters in this matter, but, even though I represent a large organization of boaters, still, when I testify, I am only one voice and that may not be enough to convince those in the political scene. They are more impressed by numbers and quantity in these matters.

If this proposed ORDINANCE is of interest to you, you can contact me via email at: Boatersarevoters@aol.com and I will do my best to keep you informed as to dates and times of Public Hearings. [Also, check back for information posted on BoatPittsburgh.com] If you happen to be a registered voter and living in the City of Pittsburgh, you may want to keep in touch with your City Councilperson and express your views to them as well.

I also invite any boater, or friends of boaters, to join the Boaters Are Voters organization and lend your support to our cause. The yearly membership fee is a mere $10 and can be sent to:

Boaters Are Voters
22 Werner Camp Road
Pittsburgh PA 15238

With your support, we will continue to do our best to represent the recreational boater in all matters that pertain to his, or her, use of our waterways. Boating in Pittsburgh has been a growing recreational activity in the past several decades and it has been a great source of pleasure for many of our residents. We hope to continue with our efforts to improve its pleasures for all involved.

Submitted by: Captain George

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