Bill Text: VA HB346 | 2018 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: Watercraft, personal; prohibits operation on lake smaller than 50 acres.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2018-03-23 - Governor: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0426) [HB346 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2018-HB346-Chaptered.html
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That §29.1-748.1 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
§29.1-748.1. Local ordinances; operation on lakes; minimum distance from shoreline; penalty.
A. Any locality in Planning District 23 may, by ordinance, prohibit the operation of a personal watercraft on a public lake measuring less than 50 acres in extent. Such ordinance shall provide that a violation of the prohibition constitutes a Class 4 misdemeanor. Any violation of such an ordinance shall be subject to the provisions of subsection C of §29.1-748.
B. The City of Virginia Beach may, by ordinance,
regulate in any portion of a waterway located solely within its territorial
limits, the minimum distance that personal watercraft may be operated from the
shoreline in excess of the slowest possible speed required to maintain steerage
and headway. Such ordinance shall provide for distances of 100 feet from the
shoreline and 200 feet from swimmers in ocean waters, and shall provide for
local enforcement and penalties not exceeding those applicable to Class 4
misdemeanors. Nothing in this section subsection prohibits access
to and from waters where operation is not otherwise restricted.