GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 2011

SESSION LAW 2011-82

HOUSE BILL 506

AN ACT authorizing the town of wrightsville Beach to remove and dispose of abandoned vessels within the town's zoning jurisdiction.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  G.S. 160A-303(b1) reads as rewritten:

"(b1)    An abandoned motor vehicle is one that:

(1)        Has been left upon a street or highway in violation of a law or ordinance prohibiting parking; or

(2)        Is left on property owned or operated by the city for longer than 24 hours; or

(3)        Is left on private property without the consent of the owner, occupant, or lessee thereof for longer than two hours; or

(4)        Is left on any public street or highway for longer than seven days or is determined by law enforcement to be a hazard to the motoring public.

(5) Is moored, anchored, or otherwise located for more than 30 consecutive days in any 180-consecutive-day period in any waters or marshes waterward of the pierhead line as established by the Town of Wrightsville Beach.

(6) If designed to float, is in danger of sinking, has sunk, is resting on the bottom, or is located such that it is a hazard to navigation or is an immediate danger to other vessels. Shipwrecks, vessels, cargoes, tackle, and other underwater archeological remains that have been in place for more than 10 years shall not be considered abandoned motor vehicles and shall not be removed under the provisions of this section without the approval of the Department of Cultural Resources, which is the legal custodian of these properties pursuant to G.S. 121-22 and G.S. 121-23."

SECTION 2.  This act applies to the Town of Wrightsville Beach only and shall apply in the areas where the Town of Wrightsville Beach exercises territorial and extraterritorial jurisdiction under G.S. 160A-360. The provisions of this act shall not apply to vessels as described in G.S. 160A-303(b1)(5) and G.S. 160A-303(b1)(6), as enacted by Section 1 of this act, in nonnavigable streams.

SECTION 3.  This act is effective when it becomes law.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 19^th day of May, 2011.

                                                                    s/  Walter H. Dalton

                                                                         President of the Senate

                                                                    s/  Thom Tillis

                                                                         Speaker of the House of Representatives