TAMPA - The City Council on Thursday approved a wake-zone ordinance designed to make the rules of the Hillsborough River less confusing for boaters and easier for police to enforce.
In the next few weeks, Tampa officials will deliver the ordinance to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission in Tallahassee, which has the final say on wake regulations.
The plan, which includes a combination of no-wake and minimum-wake zones, was unanimously approved after more than a year of consultation with state officials to make sure it won't face resistance in Tallahassee.
The city hopes to install 31 signs along the river in a month, said Tampa marine special services manager Bruce Engler.
The city has requested bids for the signs, which will warn boaters of five restricted zones:
A no-wake zone at the Marjorie Park Marina Fueling Dock.
A minimum-wake zone from north of the Marjorie Park Fuel Dock to north of the Cass Street Bridge; from the Hyde Park Avenue Bridge to Davis Islands on the west; and from east of the Beneficial Bridge to Harbor Island on the east.
A no-wake zone at Rick's on the River.
A minimum-wake zone at the Hillsborough Avenue bridge.
And a no-wake zone from the southern edge of the Jean Street Marina north to the Hillsborough River Dam.
Tampa police marine Officer Luis Vasquez said the new zones should mean smoother sailing for both rowers and power boaters, two of many groups that disagree over the necessity of wake restrictions.
For police, the necessity is clear: safety. But the problem is enforcement. Vasquez said the river rules have become confusing and sometimes impossible to enforce.
Some of the old regulations had been approved by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, making them enforceable. Others had not. Among those without state approval was a no-wake zone sought by Tampa Catholic High School to protect its crew team.
The school's crew coach has said the waters in front of the school should be treated like a "school zone" on city streets.
But Kurt Jurado, who lives on the waterfront south of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard bridge, said he was glad the city's plan doesn't include restrictions between MLK Boulevard and Hillsborough Avenue, where Tampa Catholic is located. "They can't keep shutting (the river) down in bits and pieces," said Jurado, who has lived on the river all his life. "The part of the river they're closing makes sense."
