Hard sets new rules for allocating boat berths

Hard has approved new rules for allocating boat berths, allowing family members to use boats and take over berths under set conditions. The market town on Lake Constance will also introduce a digital waiting list to make the process more transparent, ORF reports.

The rules were approved by the municipal council on Thursday. Hard has about 1,450 berths across its harbours, more than any other municipality on Vorarlberg’s shore of the lake.

Boats may now be used by family members. Berths may be transferred to parents, grandparents, children, grandchildren or siblings if the berth has been used for at least three years. That period does not apply when a berth is transferred through an inheritance. Those taking over must be adults and have had their main residence in Hard for at least five years.

At least 80 per cent of berths will be allocated to people whose main residence is in Hard, with up to 20 per cent available to people who live elsewhere. To join the waiting list reserved for Hard residents, applicants must have lived in the town for at least five years. The existing surcharge for non-residents will be removed, and all applicants will pay the same rates.

The town said the changes followed a survey sent with this year’s berth invoices. About 10 per cent of berth holders returned the feedback form.

The new rules follow a legal dispute in Bregenz, where non-residents were charged 50 per cent more for berths. A boat owner from Dornbirn challenged the surcharge and won. Courts, including the Supreme Court, ruled that it amounted to unjustified unequal treatment and breached the principle of equality and EU law. A total of 113 people were entitled to refunds, and about 137,000 euros had been paid by April 2025. Possible claims for earlier years were still being discussed.

Hard’s digital waiting list will be introduced in stages over the coming months, with separate categories for smaller motorboats, larger motorboats, sailboats and dry berths. Waiting-list places cannot be transferred. Applicants who change categories must apply again, and anyone who turns down an offered berth will be removed from the list.

Joining the list will cost 50 euros, followed by an annual 30-euro fee to remain on it. Hard’s mayor, Martin Staudinger, said the online list would allow applicants to see their position and that the town would apply the same rules to everyone, without individual exceptions.

Bregenz introduced an annual 30-euro waiting-list fee in late 2025. Lochau charges a one-off 100 euros to join its list, only for residents. Similar fees are also charged in Konstanz, Bodman-Ludwigshafen and Switzerland, in some cases for decades.