\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNearly five months after League City passed new marina permits and inspections, people who live on their boats, or live-aboards, say it has caused a \u201cmass exodus.\u201d<\/p>\n
How we got here<\/p>\n
League City City Council voted 7-1 to approve an ordinance creating new regulations for live-aboard vessels, abandoned and derelict vessels, and sanitation within city waterways at its Dec. 16 meeting<\/a>.<\/p>\n In their own words<\/p>\n Dustin Dietrich and his wife lived on their boats in the Bay for over seven years, but after the ordinance passed, they moved to Galveston, as Dietrich said many of their friends have done.<\/p>\n Ashley Shutter said she\u2019d lived on sailboats her entire life in the Bay Area where her father began his business repairing sailboats.<\/p>\n Shutter, who is currently in Mexico, said she\u2019d attended a few town hall meetings but felt her community\u2019s concerns fell on \u201cdeaf ears.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHome is somewhere I can no longer live,\u201d Shutter said.<\/p>\n Currently, if the boat is inoperable or partially dismantled for 30 days, the city can abate, or remove, it, Dietrich said.<\/p>\n \u201cRight now, I am 32 days into a repair on my boat,\u201d Dietrich said. \u201cIn their ordinance … the city can abate it.\u201d<\/p>\n The impact<\/p>\n League City City Council voted 7-1 at its May 12 meeting<\/a> to amend the ordinance it approved last year to increase how many days people can live on their boat before needing a permit and make it easier to reapply for a permit, as well as increase the penalties for dumping.<\/p>\n