
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, November 20, 1993                   TAG: 9311200085
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: ADRIENNE PETTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

SPEEDBOAT LAW RUNS AGROUND RESTRICTIONS WOULD BE UNENFORCEABLE, GAME AGENCY

A proposed ordinance to restrict speedboats traveling along the shoreline of Smith Mountain Lake seems unlikely to pass in Franklin County because the law would be a nightmare to enforce and litigate.

"The ordinance would be almost impossible to enforce, to have any effectiveness," Capt. John Heslep of the state Department of Game and Inland Fisheries told the Franklin County Board of Supervisors this week.

The ordinance would restrict boats with 20-horsepower or larger engines from traveling faster than planing speed - not more than a few miles an hour in most cases - when within 75 feet of the lake's shore or any dock extending from the shoreline.

Heslep said that game wardens could only estimate how far boats are from the shoreline, evidence that would not fly with the courts.

"You have to convince the judge that this person was within 75 feet," he said. "We've also run into problems with courts on what constitutes planing speed."

A more feasible approach to dealing with boating safety, Heslep said, would be to increase boater education and more actively enforce existing reckless-boating regulations.

After hearing Heslep's concerns, Supervisor Charles Ellis said the board probably will not pass the measure.

The ordinance would have to pass in all three counties that border Smith Mountain Lake to go into effect. Bedford County will hold a public hearing on the ordinance Monday, and Pittsylvania County will base its decision on the outcome in the two other counties.

The Smith Mountain Lake Policy Advisory Board asked the three counties to consider the measure.

The group introduced the proposed ordinance after years of complaints from swimmers and homeowners about the proximity of speeding boats and personal watercraft to the shore, said Liz Parcell, executive director of the advisory board.

by CNB