House Bill 68

Chair's Name: Lynn Smith

Committee:   Natural Resources & Environment 

House Sponsor: Terry Barnard 

HB 68 adds a new paragraph to the Coastal Marshlands Protection Act. The new language would allow the owners of two or three adjoining lots to build a single private dock for their exclusive noncommercial use which is constructed on pilings with a single walkway above the marsh grass not obstructing tidal flow.

This bill comes to the House Floor under the Modified Structured Rule.

Chairman Smith’s opinion of the legislation:

Currently, if more than one private land owner wishes to build a dock on a marshland, the state prohibits multiple walkways to any dock.  This bill allows for the streamlining of the permitting process for private property owners to build docks, and reduce the number of walkways necessary to reach those docks, on Georgia's coastal marshlands.

Further Action

The Senate substitute did not change any of the language of the House bill, but it did add new provisions to the bill (page 1, lines 17-23). They require an owner to enter into a covenant with the state that prohibits any future private docks in order to receive the stated exemption. The House Sponsor was concerned with these changes because this language would greatly restrict riparian rights of the individual property owners.

The House insisted on it's position and appointed a conference committee. The House adopted a conference committee report.