Seawalls and docks
on the Fort Lauderdale waterfront

When the city says a seawall must be raised

The City of Fort Lauderdale's climate resiliency page says the city updated its seawall ordinance on March 23, 2023. The ordinance sets a minimum top elevation for seawalls and other tidal barriers, public and private.

The page lists three situations in which an owner must raise a seawall:

• Building a new seawall
• A seawall in significant disrepair, meaning more than 50 percent damaged
• A citation because tidal water breaches the wall and affects a neighbor or the public right of way

The height: sources differ, so confirm it

The city page does not state a height in feet. For earlier amendments in 2016, a city staff report from November 2022 says the adopted minimum for new seawalls was 3.9 feet NAVD88.

That same staff report proposed 5 feet NAVD88 for new or substantially repaired tidal barriers. It also proposed that applications before January 1, 2035 could be built at 4 feet if the wall can be raised to 5 feet by January 1, 2050. A copy of the Broward County code we read on a third-party site says the same.

We could not read the adopted city text, the final section number or the final wording. Treat the 5 foot figure as a proposal that may have changed. The owner or architect must confirm the adopted number with the city before you design.

Does a house remodel trigger a seawall check?

Remodeling the house is not on the city's list of three situations. Whether a permit reviewer looks at the seawall when you apply to renovate the house is not confirmed by the sources we read.

Ask the city at the start. The answer affects the budget and the sequence of work, and a seawall rebuilt after the house is finished can damage new landscaping, pavers and pool decks.

Docks and the staff proposal

The older city text let fixed docks sit no more than 10 inches above the attached seawall. The November 2022 staff proposal replaces that with docks up to 12 inches above the associated tidal barrier. The final adopted number is not confirmed.

The staff proposal also included a City Engineer waiver of the top elevation for a property whose principal structure has a finished floor below 4.0 feet NAVD88, for a term not to exceed three years. The Broward County text we read has no waiver. Whether the city adopted it is not confirmed.

The City of Fort Lauderdale's permitting page says seawalls and docks can be submitted with a current survey and a completed Zoning Affidavit. It also says replacing a dock deck needs a city permit and Broward County approval.

County, state and federal review

Broward County says a license is required before work in, on, over or under the waters of the county. The county page we read was last updated in June 2018, so confirm it is current.

A neighboring city, Wilton Manors, publishes a seawall and dock checklist revised in May 2024. It lists state, federal and water management district reviews, with Broward often handling some by delegation. That is not Fort Lauderdale's own checklist, so ask your city which approvals apply.

We did not verify typical timelines or fees for the county license or the city permit, and we do not state any.

For realtors, architects and oceanfront lots

Realtors should know that the tidal standard has a disclosure element. The Broward text says contracts after December 31, 2020, while the city's 2022 proposal says after December 31, 2022. The dates differ, so confirm which applies to a sale.

The Broward tidal barrier standard as we read it does not apply seaward of the state's Coastal Construction Control Line, which affects oceanfront lots. See our coastal guide.

A contractor does not set seawall height. General practice is that an owner hires a surveyor and a marine or civil engineer, and the contractor coordinates their drawings, the permits and the schedule with the house work. Mike Johnson's approach to coordination and preconstruction exists to settle this sequence before construction begins.

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