Seawall Repair & Bulkhead Construction in St. Augustine, FL

Historic Waterfront, Modern Permits

Inside city limits, a seawall, bulkhead or dock project runs through the City of St. Augustine's Planning and Building Department at 75 King St. before it reaches the usual state and federal reviews. The City's permit page and HARB page set out these steps:

1. 1Check Your Zoning District and Building AgeUse the City's interactive GIS map to see whether the lot is in one of the five Historic Preservation districts (HP-1 to HP-5). The City says buildings more than 50 years old may need HARB approval.
2. 2Board ApprovalsDocks need Planning and Zoning Board approval. Bulkheads and retaining walls need it if applicable. Where HARB review applies, a Certificate of Appropriateness must be issued before a building permit. HARB meets on the third Thursday of each month, and applications follow the City's deadline schedule.
3. 3Prepare the ApplicationDocks require building plans showing Florida Building Code compliance. Bulkheads and retaining walls require plans and a property survey. Work in a flood hazard area needs a permit regardless of cost.
4. 4Submit OnlineAll permit applications go through the City's Permit Portal, following its electronic submission standards. Questions go to buildingpermits@citystaug.com.
5. 5State and Federal ReviewState review of a bayfront or river wall on a single-family lot generally falls to the FDEP Northeast District in Jacksonville. Work in Matanzas Bay or the river can also need U.S. Army Corps of Engineers authorization.

The City's permit page lists bulkheads and retaining walls but does not use the word seawall, so ask the Planning and Building Department early how your scope will be classified. Seawall and bulkhead work is generally structural, and the City says structural work needs a permit regardless of cost, so do not count on its $7,500 small-project exemption. Properties outside city limits are permitted by St. Johns County instead.

The Matanzas River at St. Augustine

The National Park Service describes the Matanzas as a tidally influenced waterbody, geographically an estuary, that connects two ocean inlets, one at St. Augustine and the other at Fort Matanzas, and that forms the western boundary of Anastasia Island along the way. Because the inlets are narrow, NPS says currents can clip along at four knots on spring tides, when the range is at its greatest at about 6 ft. NPS also notes that much of the river's reach south of the southern inlet is the result of dredging to complete the Intracoastal Waterway in 1907.

NOAA's long-term mean range is 4.48 ft at its St. Augustine city dock station and 4.28 ft at the State Road 312 bridge. For a wall on this water, that means a tall band of face and toe exposed at low tide, strong currents working the base, and low-tide windows that shape when the toe can be inspected or repaired in the dry.

The Bayfront Seawall: A Public Example

The City's own FAQ explains why it rebuilt the seawall along Avenida Menendez: the original wall was made of aging coquina. The project built a new seawall 12 feet out into the bay from the existing wall, with a FEMA Flood Mitigation Assistance grant covering 75% of the cost. The FAQ describes work planned from April 2012 to April 2013 and gives the original wall's age inconsistently, so treat it as history rather than current guidance.

A public flood-mitigation project is not a template for a private lot. A new wall placed well waterward of an old one generally needs permits and state-lands authorization that a restoration in place may not. It does show two things that apply to many older St. Augustine properties: historic walls can be made of materials such as coquina, and their condition should be assessed before any repair is designed.

Storm Record in and Around the City

NOAA lists mean higher high water at the State Road 312 bridge at about 2.0 ft NAVD88, so Irma's 6.65 ft reading on the Matanzas sat several feet above an ordinary high tide. Cap height, drainage behind the wall and toe protection all deserve discussion with that record in mind.

Estuary Rules and Riprap

Section 373.414(5), F.S., states the Legislature's intent to protect estuaries and lagoons from damage caused by vertical seawalls. When the agency considers a permit application to repair or replace an existing vertical seawall in an estuary or lagoon, it shall generally require the wall to be faced with riprap or replaced with riprap unless one of the listed exceptions exists, such as a location within an existing manmade canal already occupied in whole or in part by vertical seawalls. The statute adds that this subsection does not hinder any activity previously exempt or permitted.

NPS calls the Matanzas an estuary, but whether this statute applies to a particular lot is an agency determination. Ask the FDEP Northeast District before design is final, since a riprap facing changes the footprint, the materials and the permit path. The riprap revetments page explains how these sloped structures work.

Working With Barefoot in St. Augustine

St. Johns County is part of the area Barefoot Marine Construction serves directly from Jacksonville, so a St. Augustine request is reviewed by the company itself. The usual sequence of Request a Quote, Site Assessment, Plan & Permit, Build or Repair, and Protect Your Property has an extra layer here: Plan & Permit includes identifying any HARB, PZB or archaeology review the City requires before the building permit. Call (904) 821-5744 or send photos and project details, and mention the zoning district if you know it, the age of the house, and whether the wall looks like coquina or other masonry.