Seawall permits on the Treasure Coast.
Know which approvals apply.

The essentials before you start

• Find the authority for your parcel ↗

  A mailing address alone does not settle which city or county handles the permit.

• Separate local and state approvals ↗

  Check an environmental exemption against the actual work and local requirements.

• Settle the scope before a start date ↗

  Confirm the wall location, agency decisions and documents the application needs.

Step 1: find out who permits your parcel

Mailing addresses mislead on the Treasure Coast: a “Port St. Lucie” address can be in unincorporated St. Lucie County, and a “Palm City” or “Fort Pierce” address can sit in a different jurisdiction. Check the parcel record, then contact the office that actually issues the permit.

Building Department · Permitting Contacts · Building · Building & Permit Forms · Residential Seawall Checklist · Building Division · Dock / Boat Lift Permit Application and Checklist · Building & Permitting

Port St. Lucie: what the city asks for

The city posts a dock application and checklist but no stand-alone seawall application; seawalls are tracked under permit code SWL, and the closest generic form is the Miscellaneous permit. Call the Building Department at 772-871-5132 to confirm the form for your seawall or bulkhead.

Expect these items, based on the city’s dock and miscellaneous checklists:

• Plans signed and sealed by a Florida-licensed engineer or architect for structural work.
• Approval letters from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, FDEP and the South Florida Water Management District (dock checklist).
• A plot plan showing setbacks; for docks extending more than 5 feet, the bank-to-bank width of the waterway (an aerial photo is accepted in most cases).
• A recorded licensing agreement if a dock sits outside your property line on city property where you lack riparian rights.
• A recorded Notice of Commencement for work of $5,000 or more before the first inspection; notarized owner and contractor signatures.

Owner-builder permits must be applied for in person. Inspections are scheduled online with the permit number and PIN; anything booked before midnight is inspected the next business day.

Building Permits: Applications, Fees and Checklists · Permit Type Codes (permittypebytypecode.pdf) · Building Department Checklist for Miscellaneous Permits · Building Department Checklist for Dock Permits · Dock Permit Application (8th edition 2023) · Building Online Services · Inspections

Port St. Lucie dock and boat-lift limits

City Code Sec. 158.217(B) limits docks and boathouses on canal or waterway lots to 5 feet into the waterway. Boat lifts may extend up to 10 feet beyond the dock if the waterway is at least 60 feet wide. On waterways 100 feet or wider, a dock may extend only as far as needed to reach −4 feet at mean high water, up to 100 feet, and never more than 40 feet or 20% of the waterway width, whichever is more restrictive.

The same section says no permit will be issued for a structure in a canal or waterway until the state or federal agencies with jurisdiction have approved it. Boathouses in a rear yard are capped at 600 square feet.

§ 158.217 Accessory Uses and Structures (Port St. Lucie Code of Ordinances, Ch. 158 Zoning Code, Art. XI) · Exhibit 'C' – Section 158.217 (attachment to P26-020 / Ordinance 26-38) · § 158.217 Accessory Uses and Structures

St. Lucie County, Fort Pierce and St. Lucie Village

Unincorporated St. Lucie County: the Marine Construction Checklist covers seawalls, bulkheads, revetments, riprap, docks, piers and dredging. When you upload the submittal you need an FDEP permit or written exemption plus Army Corps and water management district permits or exemptions; plans must show every element, including boat lifts and lighting. Applications go through the county’s EnerGov Citizen Self Service portal.

Fort Pierce: the seawall checklist (updated August 3, 2026) requires Engineering pre-approval, a Marine Permit Application with a Longshore insurance acknowledgment, sealed plans, Army Corps/FDEP/SFWMD approval letters and a debris affidavit. Fees for valuation-based permits are 1.25% of valuation (minimum $100) plus a 0.25% plan review.

St. Lucie Village: town code requires Indian River docks to have 75 feet of frontage (50 for established homes) and 25-foot side setbacks, and requires state and federal permits before a dock, seawall or bulkhead is approved.

Marine Construction Checklist (Building & Code Regulation) · Permitting & Zoning · Checklist for Seawall Permits · Fee Schedule Effective 7-8-2025 (Sec. 103-52) · Town of St. Lucie Village Land Development Code (Codification of the 1995 Zoning Ordinance through Ordinance 2023-1) · Town of St. Lucie Village Land Development Code

Martin County, Stuart and Sewall’s Point

In unincorporated Martin County, repairing or replacing a previously permitted seawall starts at the Building Department. A new seawall, new riprap, a new retaining wall or replacement of an unpermitted structure goes through the Growth Management Department’s two-part Shoreline Stabilization Permit: a pre-application evaluation that ends in a Determination Letter, then the permit itself. Every lot on navigable estuarine water, canals included, has a shoreline protection zone.

Martin County’s seawall checklist asks for a survey dated no earlier than October 4, 2002 showing NAVD elevations, sealed engineered drawings and the DEP permit or exemption. In Sewall’s Point, the dock checklist requires 25-foot riparian setbacks, 50 feet to neighboring docks and a terminal platform of no more than 200 square feet. The Martin County guide has the full route.

Shoreline Stabilization Permitting (SSP) Application Help Document · Environmental Division FAQs · Residential Seawall Checklist · Dock / Boat Lift Permit Application and Checklist

Step 2: the state environmental permit (FDEP)

FDEP’s Southeast District handles St. Lucie and Martin counties (561-681-6600). Under its agreements with the water management districts, FDEP generally reviews single-family waterfront work and stand-alone docks.

Common outcomes for a homeowner:

• Exempt: restoring a seawall at, behind or within 18 inches of its old location (with conditions); seawalls in artificial residential canals; caps, batter piles and king piles that stabilize an existing wall; docks of 1,000 sq ft or less (500 sq ft in Outstanding Florida Waters).
• Noticed general permit: riprap at the toe of an existing seawall (no steeper than 2:1, up to 10 feet out, clean 1–3 ft boulders or rebar-free rubble), submitted 30 days before work.
• Individual permit: projects that don’t fit an exemption or general permit.

For exemptions under section 403.813(1), Florida law says a local government cannot require further FDEP verification. Check the actual exemption and any separate coastal, state-land or local requirements. FDEP offers exemption verification for $100; a general permit is $250 and a small individual permit is $420. Electronic self-certification is free.

Southeast District · Operating Agreements ERP Permitting: DEP District Offices and the Water Management District Offices · Florida Statutes s. 403.813 - Permits issued at district centers; exceptions · Fla. Admin. Code R. 62-330.051 - Exempt Activities · Fla. Admin. Code R. 62-330.431 - General Permit for Installation of Riprap · Fla. Admin. Code R. 62-330.050 - Procedures for Review and Agency Action on Exemption Requests · Fla. Admin. Code R. 62-4.050 - Procedures to Obtain Permits and Other Authorizations; Applications

Aquatic preserves and state-owned bottom land

Exempt work on state-owned submerged land still needs the State’s permission as landowner. Seawall and riprap repair keeps automatic “consent by rule” even inside aquatic preserves, but a new or replacement wall up to 3 feet waterward of mean high water needs a written letter of consent.

Three aquatic preserves surround Port St. Lucie: the North Fork St. Lucie (about 2,972 acres from White City to the Stuart–Palm City line), the Indian River–Vero Beach to Fort Pierce and the Jensen Beach to Jupiter Inlet preserves. All are Outstanding Florida Waters. Inside a preserve, the consent exemption for restoring a wall is worded as one foot waterward rather than 18 inches, so ask FDEP before moving a wall more than 12 inches out.

Fla. Admin. Code R. 62-330.051 - Exempt Activities · Fla. Admin. Code R. 18-21.005 - Forms of Authorization · North Fork, St. Lucie Aquatic Preserve · Florida Statutes s. 258.39 - Boundaries of preserves · Fla. Admin. Code R. 62-302.700 - Special Protection, Outstanding Florida Waters, Outstanding National Resource Waters · Fla. Admin. Code R. 18-20.004 - Management Policies, Standards, and Criteria

Step 3: the Army Corps of Engineers

Work in navigable waters needs federal authorization. For years the shortcut was the State Programmatic General Permit (SPGP VI): FDEP’s verification of a state exemption or general permit also carried federal approval for seawall replacement within 18 inches. Its stated expiration was July 27, 2026, so confirm with FDEP or the Corps whether a successor applies before relying on it.

The 2026 Nationwide Permits run from March 15, 2026 to March 15, 2031. NWP 3 covers maintenance of previously authorized structures (including storm-damaged ones if work starts within two years), NWP 13 covers bank stabilization up to 500 feet, and NWP 54 covers living shorelines. Corps applications go through its Regulatory Request System; individual permits cost $10 for noncommercial work.

Department of the Army Permit: State Programmatic General Permit VI (SPGP VI), State of Florida, SAJ-2015-2575 · Reissuance and Modification of Nationwide Permits · Reissuance and Modification of Nationwide Permits (91 FR 768), NWP 3 · Reissuance and Modification of Nationwide Permits (91 FR 768), NWP 13 · Reissuance and Modification of Nationwide Permits (91 FR 768), NWP 54 · Advisory Public Notice: Regulatory Request System (RRS)—Permit Applications · 33 CFR 325.1 Applications for permits, paragraph (f) Fees

SFWMD canals: C-23, C-24 and C-25

Structures in or across South Florida Water Management District canals and their rights-of-way need a Right of Way Occupancy Permit under Chapter 40E-6. In this area that means the C-23 (St. Lucie–Martin county line), C-23A, C-24 and C-25. The district keeps a 40-foot strip from the top of bank clear for maintenance, and these permits are revocable licenses.

A single-family Notice General Permit has no fee; a single-family Standard Permit is $75, and existing unpermitted facilities pay the standard fee.

Fla. Admin. Code R. 40E-6.041 - Consent Required · Works of the District Subject to Chapter 40E-6, F.A.C. (Right of Way Occupancy Permits) · Fla. Admin. Code R. 40E-6.011 - Policy and Purpose · Fla. Admin. Code R. 40E-6.601 - Permit Application Processing Fees

Manatee conditions for in-water work

Both counties have FWC-approved manatee protection plans, and federal manatee critical habitat covers the Indian River south to Sewall’s Point. In-water work typically carries FWC’s Standard Manatee Conditions: crews briefed on manatees, idle speed where clearance is under 4 feet, turbidity barriers that can’t entangle animals, and a shutdown if a manatee comes within 50 feet. Report a collision to FWC at 1-888-404-3922.

Manatee Protection Plans · 50 CFR 17.95(a) - Critical habitat, mammals: West Indian manatee · Standard Manatee Conditions for In-Water Work (2011)

What the permits cost

Residential Permit Fee Schedule · Fee Schedule Effective 7-8-2025 (Sec. 103-52) · St. Lucie Village Permit Fees / Plan Review Fees · Environmental Applications and Permits Fee Schedule · Fla. Admin. Code R. 62-4.050 - Procedures to Obtain Permits and Other Authorizations; Applications · 33 CFR 325.1 Applications for permits, paragraph (f) Fees

Questions to settle before a start date

• Which jurisdiction permits the parcel, and which form covers this seawall?
• Is the new wall face within 18 inches of the old one, and is the bottom land state-owned?
• Which written state and federal approvals will the building department accept?
• Does the property touch an SFWMD canal right-of-way or an aquatic preserve?
• Who records the Notice of Commencement, and who schedules the final inspection and survey?

Use the contractor checklist before signing, and the scope checklist to make sure permit work is priced.

Building Department Checklist for Dock Permits · Marine Construction Checklist (Building & Code Regulation)

Official permit resources