Lake Texoma private boat house permits reportedly started with very few approved permits and long waiting lists that required retirement of an existing boat house before approval of a new one. Boat house permits were usually tied to adjacent shoreline property owners. Very few boat houses were approved in one cove. Only one or two boat slips were allowed in a boat house since it was for private use. The shoreline and prime protected coves were protected from excessive boat houses.
The current Shoreline Management Plan dated 1996 only allows a maximum of 6 boat slips within one boat house.
Now developers are using community type boat houses with 20 to 30 boat slips and try to have them evaluated for permits as stand alone private boat houses instead of marina boat houses. Developers are proposing to almost saturate valuable protected coves and beach areas used by boaters, fishermen, duck hunters, wildlife photographers and other outdoor enthusiasts. In addition, they are usually not constructed, managed or inspected to the standards required for larger and more comparable marina type boat houses. In other words they often do not meet required fire, safety, and electrical codes to protect life and property.
Proposals to construct and maintain new structures and boathouses on Lake Texoma should be carefully considered for compliance with federal, national, state and local laws, regulations, codes, and standards. Moreover, the number and configuration of the proposed structures and boathouse(s) should be carefully evaluated.
Federal laws, regulations and standards for “Marina” floating boathouses, docks and other structures are covered under Real Estate Leases between the U.S Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and leaseholders with marinas.
Federal laws, regulations and standards for “private”, non-commercial boathouses, docks and other structures are covered by the USACE Shoreline Management Plan under Permits between the USACE and individual boathouse owners.
Older, very large federally managed lakes such as Lake Texoma often have a mix of marinas and private boathouses that have been constructed during the past twenty years or more. The development along the shoreline and on the water has increased to the point where adverse impacts must be carefully considered. Moreover, the numbers of boaters have increased and are expected to significantly increase in the future.
Land developers are trying to enhance the benefits and pricing of their shoreline (or shoreline access) property such as multiple-family residences and condominiums by attempting to build associated floating boat houses and docks. These groups of boat houses and docks are variously called multi-slip docks, condominium boat houses, community boat houses, or even private marinas and yacht clubs.
Onshore, real estate professionals and federal, state and local government organizations use the term “apartment” as a group or cluster of dwellings in a common structure. The apartment building owner leases out each apartment to individuals. Construction, maintenance and inspection standards as well as fire and safety codes have been developed for apartments.
The same type of structure is considered to be a “condominium” where the individual dwelling owners jointly own the common structure and individually own their specific dwelling areas. In fact, a significant number of structures originally established as apartments were later converted and sold as condominiums. The types of structures and use are similar or identical; the type of ownership is different.
The condo owners typically use a maintenance fee to repair and maintain common areas and structures. The construction and maintenance standards as well as fire and safety codes that have been developed for apartments are commonly used for condominiums due to their similarity. The fire and safety standards for multiple dwellings are necessarily more stringent than a stand alone dwelling. A fire or electrical problem in one unit rapidly spreads to other units and can cause catastrophic results.
Some of the developments on Lake Texoma being discussed involve several large boat houses and slips within a cove associated with condominiums or multiple-family residences. These types of developments and clustered boat houses/slips are very similar if not identical to marina boat houses/slips except they do not provide the necessary support functions to support several boats. In other words, the condo boat houses represent a similarly situated class of structures as compared to marina boat houses. They do not provide fueling, potable fresh water, and marine pump out facilities. However, the other boat house functions provided by a marina boathouse are typically provided. The condo owners usually pay a fee for repair and maintenance of common use condo boat house areas and structures.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has adopted the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standards for construction and maintenance of covered facilities and structures. The mission of the NFPA is the protection of life and property. For example, the NFPA established the well known National Electrical Code (NFPA 70). Readers may not be aware that the marine related NFPA national fire and safety standards were developed using professionals with field experience including individuals with applicable technical, marine and boating expertise. The wording of the NFPA standards is carefully constructed to provide clarification and to avoid misinterpretation.
The NFPA Fire Protection Standard for Marinas and Boatyards (NFPA 303) applies to Lake Texoma boat houses and was updated in 2000. NFPA 303 was changed to clarify the distinction between types of boat houses and facilities under their scope of coverage. NFPA 303, Chapter 1, paragraph 1.1, Scope states:
“1.1 Scope. This standard applies to the construction and operation of marinas, boatyards, yacht clubs, boat condominiums, docking facilities associated with residential condominiums, multiple-docking facilities at multiple-family residences, and all associated piers, docks and floats. This standard is not intended to apply to a private, non-commercial docking facility constructed or occupied for the use of the owners or residents of the associated single-family dwelling.”
Proposed boat houses and/or docks associated with condominiums or multiple-family residences are clearly covered and not exempt from the NFPA 303 national fire, safety and electrical standards for construction, maintenance and inspection. The NFPA 303 standards are necessarily more stringent for condominium associated multiple-slip boat houses than for stand-alone private boat houses.
Some persons believe that boat slips are relatively benign from a fire and safety stand point. However, they should be aware that each boat 26 feet or longer has from 80 to 300 gallons of fuel onboard along with high amperage heating, air conditioning, and other onboard equipment. The explosion of fuel on one boat spreads rapidly to the other boats in a boat house causing major explosions, fires and environmental contamination of large lake surfaces and beaches. It is not unusual for fires in one boat house to spread to other adjacent boat houses. Electrical shorts, arcs or leakage in one boat slip often cause a chain reaction in nearby boat slips causing multiple fires or the possibility of electrocution at several locations in the boat house and in adjacent lake water.
Similarly, NFPA 70, National Electric Code and other federal regulations and standards such as the Clean Water Act should be applied to a marina type grouping of boat houses rather than as a private, non-commercial boat house associated with a single-family dwelling.
The USACE Lake Texoma Shoreline Management Plan, Chapter VI, Construction and Maintenance Requirements, paragraph 6-01 states in part “Multi-slip docks will be limited to a maximum of 6 slips.” This requirement limits the number of slips in a dock or boat house. A provision is made to apply for consideration of additional boat slips within a boat house.
It appears that the USACE is considering the groups and clusters of multi-slip boathouses, docks and slips associated with condominiums in a class with stand alone boat houses associated with single dwellings. They are being considered under the USACE Shoreline Management Plan instead of as concessions with commercial or marina boat houses under the Real Estate Lease provisions.
- If the boathouses associated with condominiums and multiple-family residences have similar characteristics and function like marina boat houses, they should be evaluated and held to the same regulations, standards and codes as commercial or marina boat houses. This includes proposed construction and ongoing maintenance of the proposed boat houses and docks as well as inspections thereof by USACE, EPA, etc. The old saying that if something waddles, quacks, and looks like a duck, it must be a duck. That certainly applies to this case.
- Larger groups of condo boat houses and slips should pay a proportionally larger fee for USACE initial and recurring annual shoreline permits than private stand alone boat houses. They are using a utilizing a significantly larger area of the shoreline.
- Community type boat houses should not be permitted in protected coves used extensively by boaters, fishermen, duck hunters, wildlife photographers and other outdoor enthusiasts that use beaches.
