MIAMI BEACH, Fla. 鈥� For Carlos Leon, living on a boat anchored off this posh seaside community, is the ideal lifestyle.
The weather is good, except for the occasional hurricane, and the water is inviting. During the COVID pandemic, he and his girlfriend, now wife, bought a 41-foot sailboat and anchored it in Biscayne Bay. 鈥淚t鈥檚 like 400 feet, 500 feet from Miami Beach land,鈥� he says. They share their floating home with a long-haired German Shepherd.
But, because of some new policies adopted by Miami Beach, for Leon and more than 100 other people who live on their boats, getting to land for shopping, work or just to take a walk, is no longer an easy proposition.
To step on land in Miami Beach, Leon says, 鈥淚 have to bring my dinghy with a paddleboard, tow it 150 feet from land.鈥� His wife takes the paddleboard and 鈥渕e and my dog swim to the dock.鈥�
Under an , Leon and the other liveaboard boaters can鈥檛 leave their dinghies or even their paddleboards at a city-owned boat launch or they鈥檒l face a $1,000 fine.
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This small community is anchored in state waters and legal, as long as they remain 150 feet offshore. Leon says. 鈥淥bviously, we have to have our tanks, our toilets, our anchors, anchor lights, everything, up to code. But if everything is up to code, we鈥檙e good. We鈥檙e legally here.鈥�
But being legal isn鈥檛 the same thing as being welcome. For years, some in Miami Beach have not been happy about the small community boats just offshore.
In December, Miami Beach commissioner David Suarez spearheaded a move that cut off an essential lifeline for the liveaboard boaters.
At his urging, the commission next to a supermarket. At the meeting he said, 鈥淚鈥檓 going to try to limit the amount of access that the people who live on these boats that come to the mainland. Because they can鈥檛 live on a boat forever. They have to come to the mainland to get food, water and necessary supplies.鈥�
With their dock gone, liveaboard boaters began using a city-owned boat launch as a place to leave their dinghies while they picked up groceries or ran other errands. But the commission soon responded, banning dinghies and imposing a big fine for violators.
That鈥檚 made things difficult for the liveaboard boaters, Leon says, especially those who are elderly or not up to swimming 150 feet to the only place where they now can legally come ashore. 鈥淓very other area is illegal to use,鈥� Leon says. 鈥淪o, I鈥檓 becoming a criminal just to get to land.鈥�
Suarez calls the liveaboards 鈥渂oat squatters,鈥� and in an interview said the regulations are 鈥渏ustified and necessary.鈥�
Members of the agree.
The group represents Miami Beach residents who live in the condominiums that line Biscayne Bay and look out on the community of live-aboard boaters. The association has raised concerns about pollution from boats that illegally dump their waste into the bay, about the damage their anchors cause to seagrass and about the cost of dealing with derelict vessels abandoned by their owners.
Susanna Purucker, a condo owner active with the group, says liveaboard boaters are enjoying the benefits of living in Miami Beach without the responsibilities. 鈥漎ou鈥檙e not paying property taxes. You鈥檙e not paying to even keep your boat in the water. It鈥檚 just, if I can use the word, free-loading, because it is.鈥�
The liveaboard boaters have formed their own group, the . Carlos Leon says they鈥檙e considering suing the city for what they believe is a violation of their civil rights. He says, what鈥檚 at stake is a whole way of life. 鈥淏ecause if we move, then Key West, Ft. Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, everybody鈥檚 going to say, 鈥極kay, let鈥檚 follow what this guy did because it worked.鈥� And then, guess what? No boaters will be able to get to land,鈥� Leon says.
Miami Beach is in talks with the state over plans for a mooring field for boats in the bay. Depending on how it鈥檚 done, it could bring regulation to the liveaboard community or it could be used to drive them away.
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