Mooring Ball Application
 

Hello All...

I am posting this for my mother, who is a "silent" member of this forum!

Is there anyone else out there who has trouble with obtaining permits for their mooring balls? We have had permits for 2 mooring balls for the past 25 years. Every five years "the application" has to be filled out, while every year, copies of boat registrations have to be sent in.

Why does it seem to get more difficult each year? Whenever we send information in, it comes back saying that more info is needed. We have had to send in copies of the deed, maps, pictures, diagrams showing where raft, docks are and how far apart they are from each other. When we send in boat registrations, we are asked why all of the boats are not in my mother's name (property owner). She has to explain why the other boats belong to her children. It is back and forth.

This whole process seems to take so long ..... and year after year, they seem to want more and more info.

Are we alone here or are there others out there feeling the same way?

Thanks.
eillac:rolleye2:

There are others out here feeling the same way, although not necessarily about the mooring permit. It is so difficult to deal with the gov. for anything. We are trying to get a dock permit right now and it is just awful. We have already spent $5000. on permitting and design and have to do it all over again to suit them. We are not changing the size of the dock, just the design. They seem to have their own interpretation for everything, it is pathetic. Our guy said what we applied for fit the rules, but they add other things that are not in the rules. It seems like everything we try to do is a big ahassle and takes a year and a lot of money.

And I don't think it is just us that live on the lake. I heard about 5 examples of people who are very frustrated today. Someone who has done daycare for a long time is giving it up, because they can't deal with the state any more. Someone is giving up their business because they can't deal with the state any more. Someone has a child-well, I won't go into it but the state thinks they own our children too.
If you are lucky and don't have to deal with them for anything, you might not notice, but if you do, watch out.

Has Something Changed?
 

We submitted our mooring renewal application several months ago, after having maintained an approved mooring for about 15 years. We have never had any problem getting our permit, but I've always made sure our application was very complete, with copies of deeds, photos, plot plan, etc.

However, I did notice something different when we received this year's permit: it does not have a 5-year expiration date as have all our previous permits. It simply says the mooring application has been approved ... with no expiration date noted. I don't really know what to read into this, but I wonder if the state found it too expensive to examine and approve/deny each mooring every five years and opted to do away with the former expiration date for approved moorings.

Does anybody know if the regs have changed?

Our quest was in adding a set of stairs to an existing dock. After several rounds we finally had to do a study to see if any endangered species would be impacted by our set of stairs. We did finally get the permit.

A friend on an island built a house and was told that his house building permit from the town included the permission to build a set of stairs to the lake without a state permit at all. Makes you wonder if anyone really knows what the rules are.

Frustrated!
 

The part that kills me is...my mom is so thorough! We send in what they ask for......but yet it comes back saying...they want this or that! We are asking for the SAME thing year after year..no chnages! So what is the issue? Frustrated...You bet!

Try
 

Try having to renew them every year for a cottage assoc and then also all the paperwork and drawings, for something that we have had for at least 15 years already, it is nuts

So far as registerring the boats... If the registration renewals come in seperate envelopes mail them back the same way. If you want to be more crafty, mail them a few days apart.

The reasons for having multiple boats being registerred to different people is so obvious I agree you shouldn't be harrassed but sometimes it's easier to work the system than fight it. One thing you need to be careful of is the "legal residence" of the boats actual owners should be correct even if they live out of state. This might be what is triggerring the questions.

Good luck!

I maintain 30 mooring balls for a condo association on Lake Winnisquam. It's becoming a full time job as every year the state demand more and more information. This year the state says we only have room for 15 mooring balls and that the boats can't be more than 18 feet! The first time were told in 40 years!

I just don't believe that we have to resubmit deeds, registrations etc. every year. The state should have this on file and reuse it. As for registration, they can access the DMV database for renewal.

yup
 

This year we had to pay to have our mooring field drawn up and resubmitted, but I was not sure if that was to maintain the 5 year work permitt or if they required it, i am pretty sure the state wanted it again for the mooring registrations though, again not that sure, but it is getting pretty ridiculous

Individual Mooring vs Mooring Field - Different Requirements?
 

The "Application for an Individual Mooring Permit Renewal" that we have been submitting every five years specifies that it is for four or fewer moorings, so the requirements for a mooring field are likely different. On the individual mooring application, a copy of the deed must be submitted only if there has been a change during the previous 5 years. The application does state that the current registration for all boats used at the property must be submitted with the application.

If you have a problem with a mooring permit application you should call and talk to the woman in charge. She is very helpful and can review the application and clue you in on what is needed. She does not approve the permits herself, but can can give you an idea about what will fly and what will not.