HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Some families who live near the intracoastal waterway have had enough of boats speeding through no wake zones.
They are calling for a crackdown.
The area in question is just south of Hallandale Beach Boulevard.
It is where residents said boaters are speeding, and it has proved to be a major issue for homeowners, wildlife and even the boaters themselves.
The Hallandale Beach City Commission held a meeting Wednesday after a group of Golden Isle residents called on commissioners to begin the process of obtaining approval for a slow speed, minimum wake zone along the intracoastal waterway, within city limits, year-round.
“Traffic is tremendous here and they create wakes and it usually overflows in our pool,” said resident Serguy Landsmin.
It’s an area that spans 300 feet from shore to shore, but with the increased number of personal watercraft and boats traveling through at high speeds, residents say speeding through blind corners has led to wrecks on the water and the wakes have caused rising sea levels to overflow residential seawalls, damaging homes.
They also said it poses a danger to manatees that have been hit by speeding vessels.
“Boats killing manatees all the time,” said Landsmin. “I have seen a few injured.”
Police said they have issued more than 200 citations to speeding boaters between the months of August and November.
The proposed ordinance was approved Wednesday, but it still needs to go before the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, who will have the final say on whether the ordinance will be implemented.
As for the fiscal impact, the City of Hallandale Beach said it is still working to find out what that would be, but at the minimum it would require them to put up more no wake zone signs.