Chapter 270-A: Use of Houseboats

The following words and phrases as used in this chapter shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly requires otherwise:

I. "Person" means any individual, firm, co-partnership, company, association or joint-stock association, including any trustee, administrator, executor, receiver, assignee or other personal representative thereof.

II. "Houseboat" means any ship, boat, raft, float, catamaran or marine craft of any description upon or within which are located sleeping and toilet facilities, regardless of whether such facilities are of a permanent or temporary nature.

III. "Overnight period" means the period of time between the termination of daylight in the evening to the earliest dawn in the next morning.

IV. "Mooring" means beaching, grounding, or tying of a houseboat to the shore of any of the inland surface waters of the state, and the anchoring of a houseboat on any of the inland surface waters of the state.

A houseboat may be beached or grounded, or tied to the shore of any of the inland surface waters of the state for an overnight period, or any part of an overnight period, only when on or at a location owned, leased, or otherwise under the control of the owner or operator of the houseboat or by permission of the owner, lessee, or person otherwise in control of such location. An unoccupied houseboat may be anchored on the inland surface waters of the state for an overnight period, or any part of an overnight period, only in an area reasonably adjacent to a location owned, leased, or otherwise under the control of the owner or operator of the houseboat or by permission of the owner, lessee, or person otherwise in control of such location.

No houseboat shall be beached or grounded, or tied to the shore of any of the inland surface waters of the state for an overnight period or any part of an overnight period, except as permitted in RSA 270-A:2 or in cases of emergency. No houseboat shall be anchored on any of the inland surface waters of the state for an overnight period or any part of an overnight period except as permitted in RSA 270-A:2 or in cases of emergency.

The owner, lessee, or person otherwise in control of a location at or adjacent to which one or more houseboats are anchored, beached, grounded or tied to the shore for an overnight period, or for any part of an overnight period, shall promptly thereafter give notice of this fact, in writing, to the New Hampshire department of environmental services, stating the number of houseboats moored at such location and the dates of such mooring. Any person who owns or controls a location at which spaces are rented or leased to the general public for the purpose of mooring houseboats at such location, shall keep a log of all houseboats moored at such locations, the name of the owner or other person in control of such houseboats, the registration number of the houseboat, and the dates of such mooring, which log shall be available for inspection at all reasonable times by any agent of the New Hampshire department of environmental services. When a houseboat is to be moored at the same location for an extended period of time, one written notification of such fact stating the period of time the houseboat will be so moored to the New Hampshire department of environmental services shall be sufficient to satisfy the requirements of this section. Such written notification shall not be required if the owner of the houseboat furnishes such information on his application for registration of the houseboat to the director of the division of motor vehicles in accordance with the provisions of RSA 270:4.

If any person shall violate any provision of this chapter relative to mooring a houseboat overnight in a prohibited location, he shall be guilty of a violation. Each night of mooring a houseboat in a prohibited location shall be considered a separate violation.

If any person shall violate any provision of this chapter relative to giving the required notification of mooring to the New Hampshire department of environmental services, upon conviction thereof, he shall be guilty of a violation.

In addition to the penalties provided in RSA 270-A:5 and 6, the court may revoke the New Hampshire registration certificate and the right to obtain such a certificate for any houseboat or motor used for propelling such houseboat in violation of any of the provisions of this chapter, for a period not to exceed one year from the date of conviction.