Highland Beach legal opinion says town likely can regulate floating vessel platforms; residents sharply divided

Town Attorney Rubin told the Town Commission of the Town of Highland Beach on Jan. 21 that, based on a written memo, "the short answer is it does seem the town has some authority to regulate these floating vessel platforms," but he warned the statute and related state guidance leave several open questions.

The issue matters because floating vessel platforms and floating boat lifts are increasingly common on Highland Beach canals and some residents say they affect navigation, riparian rights and visual access. Rubin told commissioners the state exemption from Department of Environmental Protection permitting (amended most recently in 2023) creates a narrow band of municipal authority: platforms must float, support a vessel, meet size limits and be noncommercial, and they must not create a navigational hazard or "unreasonably infringe upon the riparian rights of adjacent property owners." Rubin said the exemption also treats platforms attached to bulkheads differently from those associated with permitted docks and that local rules for dock-associated platforms…