New legislation before the Board of County Commissioners could jeopardize the lifestyle of boaters who live aboard their vessels, offshore in Coconut Grove.
Editor’s Note: This story was first published on July 14 by WLRN Public Media. The Spotlight is re-publishing the story under a partnership agreement with WLRN.
A community of people live together just offshore at Dinner Key in Coconut Grove.
The anchorage is much like a neighborhood on Biscayne Bay — neighbors on the next boat over might offer water or help with a problem, and the community looks out for garbage they can pick up to keep the area clean.
The people live on their boats for various reasons: they have businesses on the water and find it easier to stay there, they’re retired and don’t want to deal with neighbors living too close, or they’re preparing for a voyage and need a home port to get ready in.
“ It’s freedom. It’s tranquility. I wake up in the morning, I got porpoise swimming by my boat. It’s our God-given right as Americans to be free,” said Burt Korpela, a man in his fifties with reddened skin and hair curled by salt breeze and bleached by the sun — the trappings of a life spent on the water.
Read more: Anchored in Paradise: The “Liveaboards” of Coconut Grove
But new legislation making its way through the Miami-Dade County Commission may jeopardize the free and open lifestyle these boaters have come to know.
A proposal by District 5 Commissioner Vicki Lopez seeks to ban boats from anchoring for more than 30 days in unincorporated areas of Miami-Dade County. The ordinance passed a committee hearing this month and will be heard by the full commission at a meeting on Oct. 20.
The legislation specifically cites environmental concerns for local waterways from long-term anchoring. Lopez said she doesn’t believe people should live on boats not moored at designated marinas.
“ Honestly, we don’t want people just living on the water. There are hazards. Services cannot be provided to those people properly. This is to ensure the safety of other boaters as well as the environment. That is exactly why the mooring fields and the marinas are available for people who want to actually live on their boats,” Lopez told WLRN.
Lopez cites a 2023 report from the county administration analyzing areas where the environment is sensitive to long-term anchoring as part of the impetus behind her ordinance. Though the report identified 11 specific areas in Biscayne Bay at environmental risk from boating activities, the proposed ordinance would make it illegal to anchor a boat for more than 30 days in any part of the county.
Malynda Salomone bought her boat, the Sunshine Daydream, last year with the intention of traveling the world once she got her sea legs. She said it took longer than expected to get the handle on sailing, so she’s living on her boat in Dinner Key until the season begins again.
“ I just appreciate the nature and the lifestyle. I could live on land if I wanted to, but I love it out here and I wanna try to protect that for, you know, people that aren’t even born yet,” Salomone told WLRN.
She and her other waterborne neighbors are concerned that if a ban passes at the county, their way of life will cease to exist.
“ How do we work? How do we live? This law is running us out of business,” said Korpela, who’s spent the majority of his life in and around Dinner Key.
Korpela operates a salvage business, Atlantis Marine Towing and Salvage, that operates completely on the water around coastal Florida. He lives on his boat part-time when his job requires, or when his neighbors need help watching their boats while they’re away.
He argues that removing people’s ability to live on the bay will hamstring local businesses, as companies like his won’t be able to operate if they can’t keep themselves anchored for more than a month.
He also pushes back on Lopez’s assertion that live aboard boaters should just go to marinas and mooring fields, saying there’s no affordable space for most live aboards to dock.
The majority of marinas around Miami-Dade County have waiting lists for boat slips and mooring balls that last upwards of 4 years, according to a recent Miami Herald report.
“There’s just nowhere for us to go,” said Darlene Bechtold, who lives on a boat with her 18-year-old chihuahua, Abby.
Bechtold said she wouldn’t be able to go far if she has to leave Miami-Dade County’s waters because her boat was damaged and she’s recovering from a leg injury.
“My boat needs repairs and so do I,” she jokes.
County response
County commissioners on the Recreation, Tourism, and Resiliency Committee expressed reservations earlier this month about Lopez’s legislation.
Commissioner Raquel Regalado was an outspoken critic, saying there was not enough space for boaters to moor their boats, and she would not support the ordinance without an investment in more marina space. “I don’t want to live in a Miami-Dade County where people can’t live on the water,” she said.
Commissioner Marlene Bastien worried that passing the law would lead to more homelessness. Commissioner Kionne L. McGhee said the measure appeared like the county was singling out a specific group of people and telling them they couldn’t live here.
“It’s almost as if we’re segregating these people. I’m not saying that’s what we’re doing, I’m telling you what this looks like,” he said. “Why are we doing this? We know it’s not right.”
Despite their opposition to the spirit of the ordinance, Bastien and McGhee voted in favor of pushing the legislation to the full county commission, along with Commissioner Micky Steinberg. Regalado was the sole “no.”
Commissioners asked that the ordinance be taken up at the Oct. 20 meeting and that the county administration bring more information on where live aboard boaters can go if this passes, and with more public input from the boating community. The item must be passed by the full commission in order to become law.
