Trespassers on dock, how to fix?

[crbr]

Call anytime. Work daytime is OK for me, as I am less distracted by fun on a weekend. However feel free anytime. My cell is in a PM to you.

 

[RonMar]

I would not cut it loose. I would not do anything that could potentially harm person or property if someone is injured due to you releasing it then bad things WILL happen. I am assuming that the land property is yours and the water side is TBA? I am also assuming an easement for the trail around the lake. If it is your land and TBA says the dock is allowed to protrude into their property(easement?) specifically for your personal use, then it is YOUR property as well as the land it connects to. Depending upon where you live, it may not even have to be posted. Over the last several years many areas have re-written property laws something to the effect that if you know it isn't yours, it belongs to someone else and is therfore private and assumed such untill the owner gives you permission to use it. I mean why should I have to make my property ugly with no trespassing signs all over the place, it is my property and people should know better. Even if that is not the case, trespassing is trespassing regardless of wether it is posted or not. Ignorance of the law is no excuse for breaking the law. " didn't see the speed limit sign officer" will not usually get you out of a ticket.

Can you pull a boat out at this point of shoreline? Depending on your local laws, a vehicle may have to be "abandoned" for a certain ammount of time to be legally removed. IF the time is short enough, if left parked illegally and tied to your private property, cook up a deal with a local tow company or a local marina service if the lake is big enough to have one, and have them come and tow and impound it. I would of course have a sign at the end of the dock that states that this is a private dock and that boats moored illegally will be towed and impounded at the owners expense. Or you could padlock it to the dock and leave the number for the local sheriff for them to call. Whatever you do, I would first check with the local sheriff and run the idea past them and follow their reccomendations. You and the sheriffs deparment will probably be a lot happier with an enforcement plan you work out together.

Good Luck, if you don't stand up for what is yours, then people will think it is all right to use your property as long as you were not actually harmed by others using it.

 

[EddieWalker]

EddieWalker: One issue is if I call the authorities (whomever it might be) and in fact, they DO show up, the boaters might be long gone, rendering it a useless call for them.

Not true.

You will have the registration numbers on the boat and can press charges for them tresspassing on your dock. They don't need to be there all day for you to press charges against them. You can take pictures and document it, or you can rely on your word against the tresspassers.

It's never useless to let the law do there jobs.

You can solve the problem or not.

Eddie

 

[crbr]

This is not about tresspassing as such. Depending on how one accesses an area that is jurisdicted by TVA, depends on if they have the right to be there (or not). It's more than a cut and dry situation with TVA.

There's no way to extensively explain this in a post.

 

[Kendall69]

What about a chain link fence at the entrance to the dock, with a chain link door with lock and chain. Extend the fence a few feet into and or left and right of the dock so if they go around they definitely will be trespassing.
The sign can be attached on the other side of the door clearly stating no trespassing.

Yes a painted on the dock - white square with red letters, PRIVATE DOCK trespassers will be prsecuted.

Remember you have a liability issue with them on your dock when they get hurt, or drown, when they drown they will sue you for not having a safety ring on the dock or some other crazy thing.

 

[Richard]

I had a very nice visit with CRBR last night (Thanks again Chuck) and I will not be unteathering any boats from the dock.

I clearly have more work to do to try to "defend" ourselves from these idiots however, now that he's taken the time to explain his situation to me, I agree with him that "the answer" might not be so short & clean as I might have hoped.

 

[Champy]

Since the root cause of the problem is with your dock being so attractive and accessible, maybe you should focus your energy there instead of addressing how to deal with the boaters once they hooked up............

I know that up North many of the private docks pivot on the shoreline and owners use winches to pull them up out of the water during the winter. If you did this then the dock wouldn't be there for them to use - right? Or conversely, if the dock is sunken nobody will use it, then you raise it for your own use (probably rotted though).

I'd work on creating an "useless" dock so people will naturally find another hot spot.... really sounds like yours is just to easy to get to and use.

 

[MossRoad]

Instead of putting a sign on the dock that can be removed, why not paint a message on the side of the dock, so that boaters pulling up to it see nice, 4" high letters stating:

THIS IS NOT A PUBLIC DOCK. ALL UNAUTHORIZED BOATS WILL BE TOWED.

 

[MossRoad]

I would untie the boats and act like you have no idea what happened just like they didnt see the sign. You need to be firm with these people because if your not they will keep on doing what they have been doing. My dad has a camp on the river and this guy keep trespassing on his land and one day my dad caught
him leaving and told him not to come back ever. Weeks later my dad found this guys boat so he untied it let it float a little ways out and filled it full of holes.
He never saw that guy again .

You untie a boat, it drifts into the lake, some other boat hits it. You go to jail.

You untie someone's boat that doesn't know it is illegally docked and you would probably be guilty of vandalism, too.

 

[MossRoad]

Maybe paint on the dock deck... both where the boats tie up, both sides where it is seen BEFORE they tie up and on the walking surface:

Private Dock
No docking allowed

I dunno... if, legally, you own the dock, then I suppose that it you can rent space, just as if you owned a parking lot.

So, you might consider a sign that says:
Private Dock
$5 / hour
Pay in advance.
Trespassers will be set adrift

It seems like you frequent the dock yourself, so you can put a "collection box" there, properly signed, locked top for collecting.

I'm no lawyer, but if you painted the signs on the dock itself, it is hard to remove. I don't know why you can't set your own price. In Texas, a vehicle on private property can be towed..only hitch is that notice must be clearly visible and proper parking spaces marked, and an attempt made to contact the owner before towing. Might check your state laws regarding parking vehicles on private property.

You don't want to set yourself up for a "destruction of property" problem... or theft issue.

What does TVA say?? Are there laws particular to this problem... you can't be the only one that has it.
The TVA River Neighbors Newsletter may have something that covers this... current and back issues are available on line, but I haven't gone thru them to see. There is a TVA Watershead Team that assists property owners with their structures.

I guess I should have read further, before replying.