Granite Shoals updates boat launch ordinance, clarifies pass requirements
Lake LBJ from the shores of Granite Shoals. Staff photo by Maci Cottingham
Granite Shoals updated its boat launch ordinance, including changes to resident annual passes and requirements for daily and nonresident permits.
The amendments – approved at the council’s Tuesday, Aug. 25, meeting – follow a staff review of the ordinance that identified redundant language and areas where the rules could be clarified for residents, visitors and city staff.
“We took out some of the verbiage that was redundant from the prior ordinance,” Police Chief John Ortis said in the meeting.
One of the more notable changes involves resident annual launch passes. The amended ordinance establishes that each household can receive a maximum of two free annual passes, with additional passes available to residents of the same household for a $20 administrative fee each. The passes are tied to the vehicle for which they are issued and cannot be transferred to another person or vehicle.
The ordinance also clarifies when daily boat ramp and parking permits are required, when fees must be paid, how long permits are valid and how they must be displayed.
Under the ordinance, nonresidents who are operating a boat without livery must purchase a daily pass before launching at a city-owned boat ramp. The pass expires at the end of the day it is issued, and same-day retrieval of the boat is included.
The daily-pass clarification comes after a fee increase the city made earlier this year. In March, the city increased the daily nonresident launch fee to $20, while the annual nonresident pass remained $200.
The ordinance also clarifies requirements for nonresident annual passes. The $200 pass is not prorated and is valid through the remainder of the calendar year in which it is issued. It cannot be transferred to another person or vehicle.