Permitting

Loftis Marine is licensed and insured to work anywhere in the state of Florida. Part of what makes us unique, is that we do all of our permitting in house. Most marine construction companies hire outside firms to permit their projects, whereas we can do all drawings and permit applications ourselves which eliminates wait times. We work with all federal, state, & local agencies when permitting your project.

When permitting a dock, there are multiple agencies that you need to apply for a permit. Here are the following agencies:

Q&A

For all work near shore and over the water, we start the permitting process with applying to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP). After receiving approvals from these federal and state agencies, you can then proceed to acquire all county/city approvals needed. Sometimes HOA approval is needed as well for a marine construction project.

When a dock traverses over seagrasses (SAVs), the FDEP and USACE require some standard features the dock must contain. The decking either has to be synthetic grated decking (to allow sunlight to reach SAVs) or the wood decking has to have 0.5 inch spacings between planks. The dock height above mean high water (MHW) has to be 5 ft as well. Pile wrap protection will be required in some instances as well, this helps prevent pilings from leaching treatment chemicals that could interfere with aquatic life in the immediate area.

The FDEP requires that new docks be constructed with at least a 25 ft side setback from your riparian lines. Riparian line is basically a boundary line for construction over the water. Sometimes it can be a direct extension of your property lines, but other times it could be completely different. In cases where it is not clear what the riparian lines are, a riparian survey is recommended to the client. Construction can be within the 25 ft side setback as long as you can receive a waiver from your neighbor approving this design.