In Bayou Chico, abandoned boats have been a familiar sight for years.
Some sinking. Some just left to rot.
At this week’s Escambia County Commission meeting, officials said those local frustrations helped push a change in state law that now gives counties more power to deal with derelict vessels.
Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the measure in April. It takes effect July 1.
The law expands what local governments can do once they adopt an ordinance and get state approval. It opens the door for code enforcement officers to take on some vessel-related cases that used to move only through law enforcement. The goal is faster cleanup and fewer long-term problem boats sitting in the water.
County lobbyist Chris Dawson called it a major win.
“Escambia led the charge for all 67 counties on this topic,” he told commissioners. “'Derelict vessels' is not an easy issue to move in Tallahassee.”
But Commissioner Mike Kohler made it personal. He said the work did not start in a Capitol office. It started in local waters.
“It came from derelict vessels in Bayou Chico.” Kohler said. “That’s where it came from.”
He said the impact now goes well beyond Pensacola.
“That’s a huge piece of legislation that will affect the whole state,” Kohler said.
Bayou Chico sits in the southern part of the Pensacola Bay watershed. It is a working waterway. It is also one where residents and advocates have raised concerns for years about abandoned boats, pollution, and safety hazards.
Under the new law, counties will have a clearer path to step in earlier. Officials say that matters because once a vessel deteriorates too far, removal becomes slower and more expensive.
Dawson said that is exactly the problem the bill was designed to fix.
The change should “tremendously help us clean up the waterways more quickly of these very dangerous derelict vessels,” Dawson said.
