Seawall & Bulkhead Help in Tampa Bay

How Seawall Review Works Across Tampa Bay

The four counties in this region do not share one seawall process. Two of them add a county-level marine review on top of the building permit, and individual cities add rules of their own. The table below summarizes what we could confirm on official pages for this guide.

State and federal review sits on top of these local layers. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection's Southwest District, headquartered in the Tampa area, covers all four counties, and so does the Southwest Florida Water Management District. See the Florida seawall permit guide for how those layers fit together.

The 2024 Storm Record Around the Bay

Hurricane Helene did not make landfall here, but the National Hurricane Center (NHC) reports 5 to 7 feet of storm surge inundation above ground level from the Anclote River south to Longboat Key and inside Tampa Bay, and 6 to 9 feet from south of Cedar Key to the Anclote River. Several long-running gauges set records.

The NHC also reports that at least 500 Hernando County homes had major damage, mostly from surge along the barrier islands and immediate coast; at least 9,900 Pasco County structures were damaged; and at least 419 homes were destroyed in Pinellas and Hillsborough counties combined. Two weeks later, Milton's forecasts for Tampa Bay reached 10 to 15 feet, but offshore winds north of its Siesta Key landfall held Tampa Bay to 1 to 2 feet of inundation. The NHC notes that a track shift of less than 30 nautical miles north would have produced significant surge into the bay.

Pinellas County: One Marine Permit Office for Every City

In Pinellas County, a seawall, riprap or dock project goes through the county's Water and Navigation section whether the property is in St. Petersburg, Clearwater, a beach town or an unincorporated area. Applications go through the Pinellas County Access Portal. The county also publishes a Coastal Environmental Resource Zone map that flags properties near known seagrass or mangroves, which is worth checking before design starts.

Two other Pinellas details matter. The Pinellas County Aquatic Preserve includes all state-owned submerged land within the county, including Boca Ciega Bay, Clearwater Harbor, St. Joseph Sound and southwestern Tampa Bay, so aquatic preserve rules can apply to work waterward of the shoreline. And cities add their own requirements: St. Pete Beach sets minimum seawall elevations, and St. Petersburg is preparing a seawall master plan for its city-owned walls and has asked residents about private seawall standards. The Pinellas County permit page has more.

Hillsborough County: City Permit, EPC and Port Tampa Bay

Port Tampa Bay's permitting summary (dated 4/2024) says anyone building a fixed structure or placing fill in the county's jurisdictional waters must apply, and defines those waters to include tidally influenced waters, the Hillsborough, Alafia and Little Manatee rivers, other natural creeks and streams, and Lakes Thonotosassa and Keystone. New seawalls or riprap up to 400 feet of shoreline count as minor work, and the port has delegated authority to issue some minor work permits, mainly for private single-family homes, to the EPC. Larger projects are standard work, with neighbor notice, a public hearing and a port board decision.

Areas the port designates as Aquatic Resource Protection Areas, such as Cockroach Bay on the Little Manatee River, are reviewed under stricter standards. Inside Tampa city limits, the City's building permit comes on top of the marine review. Unincorporated communities such as Apollo Beach and Ruskin are outside the City, but work in the county's jurisdictional waters there still falls under the port and EPC layer. See the Tampa page for the city's checklist and drawing requirements.

Pasco and Hernando: The Gulf Coast North of the Bay

Pasco County's posted submittal list for residential docks and seawalls asks for contractor license information, two sets of signed and sealed engineered plans (it states that digital signatures are not accepted), scaled site plans showing the width of the canal or waterway and an aerial image of neighboring docks, a riparian rights survey where side lines converge at the end of a canal, and a drainage plan. It also states that anyone working on the water must provide workers' compensation coverage under class code 6006F (longshoreman). The list still cites the 2020 Florida Building Code, 7th Edition, so confirm the current version with the county.

Hernando County's seawall rules could not be verified for this guide. What is documented is its exposure: a USGS sensor on Pine Island in Hernando County read 8.84 feet above mean higher high water in Helene, the highest of the regional readings in the table above. Owners there should start with county building and zoning staff and the DEP Southwest District.

State Rules That Apply Around the Whole Bay

• Section 403.813(1)(e), F.S. (opens in a new tab) exempts restoring a seawall at, behind or within 18 inches waterward of its previous location from state environmental permitting. It does not remove county, city, state-lands or coastal construction requirements.
• Tampa Bay is an estuary. Under section 373.414(5), F.S. (opens in a new tab), when the state reviews a permit application to repair or replace an existing vertical seawall in an estuary or lagoon, it shall generally require riprap facing or full riprap replacement, unless an exception applies, such as an existing manmade canal already partly lined with vertical seawalls. The same subsection says it does not hinder work that is otherwise exempt.
• Aquatic preserves in this region include the Pinellas County, Boca Ciega Bay and Cockroach Bay preserves. Section 258.42, F.S. (opens in a new tab), allows approval of seawall restoration up to 18 inches waterward in a preserve, while DEP's Rule 18-20.004, F.A.C. (opens in a new tab), exempts restoration only within one foot from applying for consent of use, so confirm the limit with DEP before design.
• The Coastal Construction Control Line program covers sandy Gulf beaches, not canal, bay or river seawalls. In this region, DEP's control line descriptions (opens in a new tab) include Pinellas County only.

How to Evaluate a Contractor in Tampa Bay

Florida Bulk Head accepts project inquiries from Tampa Bay and connects owners with a qualified participating contractor when one is available, subject to availability. Barefoot Marine Construction does not perform work in this region. If no contractor is available for your location and scope, we will tell you so. Read how we handle your information in the lead-sharing disclosure.