Bulkhead repair
in Port St. Lucie.

The essentials before you start

• Identify the waterway first ↗

  Tidal canals, city drainage canals and district canals have different starting points.

• Check the land beside the wall ↗

  Review ownership and easements before planning equipment access or a new structure.

• Choose a repair after the assessment ↗

  Bring the bank condition, drainage and permit route into the same discussion.

Seawall, bulkhead or retaining wall?

Port St. Lucie’s residential fee schedule groups “Seawalls, Bulkheads, Retention Walls” in one line, and its permit codes track seawalls and retaining walls together as SWL. In everyday use, a seawall faces tidal water, a bulkhead is any vertical wall holding back soil at the water, and a retaining wall may sit on a lake bank or swale. The engineering questions (soil loss, anchors, drainage) are the same; the owner and permits may not be.

Residential Permit Fee Schedule · Permit Type Codes (permittypebytypecode.pdf)

Tidal waterway, city canal or SFWMD canal?

The city lists 45,625 feet of ocean access waterways with 743 adjacent single-family lots, and about 200 miles of city drainage canals with 185 water control structures.

Ocean Access Waterways – Public Works Department (Waterway Maintenance Presentation) · Drainage, Roadway, Mowing & Landscape Maintenance · Works of the District Subject to Chapter 40E-6, F.A.C. (Right of Way Occupancy Permits) · North Fork, St. Lucie Aquatic Preserve

City easements and encroachment permits

Structures that encroach into a city easement need a Public Works Residential Revocable Encroachment Permit: a $125 application fee plus county recording fees, a signed and sealed survey, and about 4–6 weeks of review. The city can revoke it on written notice and require removal at the owner’s cost within 30 days. Ask before rebuilding a wall or dock that crosses your platted lot line.

Residential Revocable Encroachment Permit Application / Permit Info / Permit form

On SFWMD canals, the district’s strip comes first

Walls, docks and outfalls in or across an SFWMD canal right-of-way need a 40E-6 occupancy permit, and the district keeps 40 feet from the top of bank clear for maintenance. Single-family notice general permits are free; standard permits are $75.

Fla. Admin. Code R. 40E-6.041 - Consent Required · Fla. Admin. Code R. 40E-6.011 - Policy and Purpose · Fla. Admin. Code R. 40E-6.601 - Permit Application Processing Fees

Lake banks in master-planned communities

In master-planned communities, the association or district, not the city, usually maintains the lakes and stormwater system under SFWMD permits. Port St. Lucie rebates part of the stormwater fee to associations that have taken on that duty, as in Riverland (2020) and the Sundance and Wylder agreements (2025). Read the lake bank guide before hiring anyone to wall a lake edge.

Agreement to Rebate Stormwater Assessments and Provide for Maintenance of Stormwater Management System for Riverland Communities

Repair options and the permit route

Typical bulkhead fixes are new caps, batter or king piles, tie-back replacement, panel replacement, toe riprap and full replacement. FDEP exempts seawalls and riprap in artificial waterways and residential canals and caps or piles that stabilize an existing wall; toe riprap uses a noticed general permit. The city permit still applies, and structural work needs sealed plans.

Fla. Admin. Code R. 62-330.051 - Exempt Activities · Fla. Admin. Code R. 62-330.431 - General Permit for Installation of Riprap · Building Department Checklist for Miscellaneous Permits

Shallow canals and boat access

Residents of one canal-front neighborhood told reporters in 2025 that sediment left boats stuck on lifts at low tide; the city said the canal center held at least five feet and dredging was not recommended. The city does not maintain ocean access waterways for navigation, but dredged eight of them in 2010 ($726,448 for 20,973 cubic yards) and adopted a five-year dredging plan in 2021. Owners may hire contractors to dredge next to their own walls and docks with the required permits.

'It's upsetting': Port St. Lucie residents voice frustration over shallow drainage canal · Ocean Access Waterways – Public Works Department · Dredging of Ocean Access Waterways – Public Works Department (Waterway Maintenance – Updated 10-18-21)