Lake Use - Boating

All persons, firms or corporations must secure a permit from the town or its designated agents before placing, operating, or allowing any water vessel to be placed or operated on Lake Lure.   Permit availability and fees vary from season to season and are based on resident status and different recreational and commercial uses.   A valid state registration and proof of marine liability insurance meeting the town’s requirements must be presented with all applications for permits.  

 

Operation of Boat

 

1. No water vessels shall be operated shoreward of markers designating restricted areas.

 

2. No water vessels shall be tied to any town public dock for longer than two and a half hours, except for boats owned or permitted in the name of the town, unless special permission is received from the town manager.   All lake structure regulations adopted by the Town of Lake Lure that involve the mooring and launching of boats should also be recognized as boating regulations.  

 

3. No water vessels shall be operated at a speed greater than ‘no wake’ speed within 75 feet of the shoreline of Lake Lure.

 

4. No water vessels shall be operated at a speed greater than “No Wake” on other areas of Lake Lure, not regulated by item C above, when such areas are properly marked with a lawfully placed buoy or marker.

 

5. No water vessels shall be tied to any lawfully placed buoy or marker on the lake or shoreline of Lake Lure.

 

6. The town council or wildlife resources commission must approve all buoys or safety marker placements.   All markings will be in accordance with the Uniform State Waterway Marking System.

 

7. All water vessels must be operated at “no wake” speed from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. during the months of October through April and 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. during the months of May through September.   All boats running at night must meet those lighting standards required by wildlife resources commission regulations or applicable state law.

 

Manner of Operation

 

1. It is unlawful for any person to operate a water vessel on Lake Lure in a reckless or negligent manner so as to endanger the life, limb, or property of any person upon or near said lake.   It is also be unlawful for any person to permit any water vessel owned by him to be operated in a reckless or negligent manner so as to endanger life, limb, or property of any person upon or near said lake.

 

2. No person shall operate a water vessel on the waters of Lake Lure while under the influence of and impairing substance or after having consumed sufficient alcohol that he has, at any relevant time after the operation of said water vessel an alcohol concentration of 0.08 or more. REMINDER: State Law prohibits having open containers of ‘fortified wine, spirituous liquors and mixed alcoholic beverages” on any boat.

 

3. No person shall engage in motorized water vessel racing on Lake Lure. 4. The exhaust of every internal combustion engine used on any water vessel shall be effectively muffled by equipment so constructed and used as to muffle the noise of the exhaust in a reasonable manner. 5. No person shall place, throw, deposit or discharge or caused to be placed, thrown, deposited or discharged on the waters of Lake Lure, any letter, raw sewage, bottles, cans, papers or liquid or solid materials which render the waters unsightly, noxious, or other wise unwholesome so as to be detrimental to the public health or welfare or to the enjoyment and safety of the water for recreational purposes.

 

Water Sports

 

1. All persons involved in water sports in Lake Lure shall wear proper U.S. Coast Guard approved life vest gear.   No more than two persons engaged in water sports may be towed behind one boat, with the exception of water skiing shows permitted by the town.

 

2. No person shall engage in water sports in any cove of less than 300 feet in width or in any cove marked by “No Wake” buoys.

 

Prohibited Water Vessels

 

1. No pontoon boat, canoe, kayak, rowing shell, row boat or any motorized craft with less than 10 horsepower longer than 28 feet in length, nor any other boat type, including but not limited to runabouts, ski boats, deck boats, sail boats and canoes, longer than 20 feet, 11 inches, will be permitted on Lake Lure.

 

2. No personal watercraft (i.e. jet ski), except those grandfathered in 1988, shall be permitted on the waters of Lake Lure.

 

3. Any boat used for commercial purposes, including rental home use that has not obtained a lake commercial use license and boat permit.

 

4. Water vessels with built-in kitchen and toilet facilities and or houseboats shall not be permitted on the waters of Lake Lure.

 

5. Certain vehicles, such as seaplanes, airboats and hovercraft do not qualify for permits under any circumstances and, therefore, are prohibited from the waters of Lake Lure.   Any vessel, including a watercraft, seaplane, airboat and hovercraft, which is not specifically allowed to qualify and /or has a current permit shall not be placed on the waters of Lake Lure.   Firefighting seaplanes or firefighting watercraft operated by North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Division of Forest Resources for the purposes of firefighting, are exempt from the prohibition.

 

Firefighting Vessels

 

The North Carolina State Forest Service has a special weapon to combat forest fires in our area.   It is a Canadair CL-215 firefighting airplane. This airplane can carry and drop up to 1,400 gallons of water on a fire with great accuracy.   It can refill from lakes by skimming the surface and yes, Lake Lure is large enough for it to refill.   Some may remember when a plane like this filled water from Lake Lure in late 1980 for a large forest fire in the area. The plane is located in Hickory, North Carolina and is a great asset to our area.  

 

When boating, if you spot this large yellow airplane, or if the Lake Patrol Officer tells you it is coming, then pull your boat near the shoreline and wait until clear.   This aircraft will not refill on the lake after dark.

 

In addition, the Town of Lake Lure has a bright red fireboat that functions as a mobile fireplug to provide high-pressure water to fire trucks ashore where there are no water supplies available.   It also has a water cannon to help fight fires in and around the lake.  

 

Enforcement Penalties

 

1. Any person, firm or corporation violating any provision of this chapter for which no specific penalty is otherwise provided shall upon conviction be guilty of a misdemeanor as provided in G.S. 14-4.   However, violations of §85.54 shall be as provided in F.S. §75A-18.

 

2. Any person, firm or corporation violating any provisions of this chapter, upon conviction thereof, may be suspended from further use of Lake Lure, in the discretion of the town council.

 

3. The town may also provide for enforcement of this chapter by other remedies, as authorized in G.S. § 160A-175, including the imposition of civil fines, the ordering of specific combination of remedies.   In addition the town may seek an appropriate equitable remedy issuing from a court of competent jurisdiction.

 

Definitions

 

The following definitions will apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning:

 

Non-Resident is any person not owning real property within the corporate limits of the town, or any person who resides outside the corporate limits of the town for more than 50% of the calendar year.

 

No Wake is an idle speed or a slow speed creating no appreciable wake.

 

Permit is a display permit issued by the town to operate a boat on Lake Lure for recreational and/or fishing purposes.

 

Personal Watercraft, also Known as PWC or Ski craft, is an inboard-powered craft using a water-jet pump as the primary source of propulsion and operated by a person sitting, standing or kneeling on the craft rather than in the conventional manner of boat operation.

 

Property Owner is the term deemed to include corporations, joint property owners (i.e. a person listed on the deed of record as a owner of the real property), and time-share owners.

 

Resident is any person owning real property within the corporate limits of the town or any person who resides within the corporate limits of the town for more than 50% of the calendar year.

 

Water Sports includes water-skiing, knee boarding, wake-boarding, tubing and other similar activities, which involve being towed behind a boat.

 

Water Vessels(s) is every description of watercraft or structure, other than a seaplane on the water, used or capable of being used as a means of transportation or habitation on the water.   Said term shall include, but shall not necessarily be limited to pontoon boats, fishing boats, house boats, ski boats, pleasure boats, personal watercraft, row boats or canoes.