                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

LOCAL ORDINANCES; OPERATION ON LAKES; MINIMUM DISTANCE FROM SHORELINE; PENALTY
(§ 29.1-748.1)

A. Any locality in Planning District 23 may, by ordinance, prohibit the
operation of a personal watercraft on a public lake measuring less than 50 acres
in extent. Such ordinance shall provide that a violation of the prohibition
constitutes a Class 4 misdemeanor. Any violation of such an ordinance shall be
subject to the provisions of subsection C of &#xA7; 29.1-748.

B. The City of Virginia Beach may, by ordinance, regulate in any portion of a
waterway located solely within its territorial limits, the minimum distance that
personal watercraft may be operated from the shoreline in excess of the slowest
possible speed required to maintain steerage and headway. Such ordinance shall
provide for distances of 100 feet from the shoreline and 200 feet from swimmers
in ocean waters, and shall provide for local enforcement and penalties not
exceeding those applicable to Class 4 misdemeanors. Nothing in this subsection
prohibits access to and from waters where operation is not otherwise restricted.

HISTORY: 2003, c. 117; 2007, c. 813; 2018, c. 426.