Cocoa Beach Docks, Seawalls and Boat Lifts

Yes: the Cocoa Beach Building Division lists decks, docks, boathouses, boat lifts and dredge and fill projects among the work that needs a building permit, and every seawall or waterside structure needs one (Cocoa Beach Building Division, Cocoa Beach Land Development Code Section 3-28).

The Building Division puts the burden on the owner: property owners, not contractors, are ultimately responsible for getting permits, and an owner whose work starts without one may be cited. Applications go through the city's OpenGov portal, with permit questions taken at 321-868-3217 and portal help at 321-868-3298 (Cocoa Beach Building Division).

Land Development Code Section 3-28 adds the waterfront specifics. The application needs a property boundary survey, and if an inspector cannot tell where the property line sits relative to the setbacks, the inspection fails until an updated survey of the corners is supplied. Where statewide coastal construction or aquatic preserve restrictions apply, an approved FDEP permit or written exemption must come before the city building permit. Structures on canals and rivers must meet both Section 3-28 and the Florida Building Code, tires may not be attached to any waterside structure, and violations are cited under Chapter 30 of the city code (Cocoa Beach Land Development Code Section 3-28).

Seawalls facing the Atlantic Ocean follow a different set of rules, City Code Sections 5-40 to 5-42, which require a state variance and permit and engineer supervision (Cocoa Beach City Code Article IIIA). The Cocoa Beach dune and coastal construction guide covers those oceanfront rules.

Under the Cocoa Beach Land Development Code, no dock, lift, boathouse or other waterside structure may project more than 20 percent of the waterway's width, and never more than 30 feet (Cocoa Beach Land Development Code Section 3-28).

Section 3-28 applies the same limits to residential and commercial piers, docks, decks, slips, davits, boathouses, boat lifts, boat shelters, mooring posts, piles and buoys. Waterway width comes from a survey or from an aerial map using Brevard County Property Appraiser data, the side setback is measured on a lot width taken along the rear property line, and a neighbor's setback waiver must be in a form approved by the city attorney and recorded in the Brevard County public records. No waterside structure may sit in the front yard setback, and a deteriorated or dilapidated one can be ordered removed immediately by the building official or a code enforcement officer (Cocoa Beach Land Development Code Section 3-28).

The older City Code uses a different yardstick. Section 5-15 says a moored vessel, or a vessel together with its dock, slip, boathouse or shelter, may not project more than 33 and one-third percent of the waterway width, measured from the near bulkhead or mean water line, and may not narrow the navigable width with 3 feet or more of depth to less than 35 feet (Cocoa Beach City Code Section 5-15). Section 3-28 in turn lets boats parked in a waterway take up no more than one-third of its width (Cocoa Beach Land Development Code Section 3-28). The two codes measure the waterway differently, so the Building Division at 321-868-3217 is the place to confirm how both apply to a lot (Cocoa Beach Building Division).

A Cocoa Beach seawall on a canal or the river must top out at no less than 3.9 feet NAVD88 and no more than 5 feet NAVD88 or the property's base flood elevation, whichever is greater (Cocoa Beach Land Development Code Section 3-28).

The code ties elevations to the North American Vertical Datum of 1988 and, for properties that are not oceanfront, lets the top of the barnacle line serve as elevation zero for measuring. A replacement seawall goes in its previous location or within 1 foot of it, must incorporate any utility outfall pipe on the lot, and is paired with a land slope no steeper than 4 to 1 and a water detention area to cut direct runoff into the waterway. Improvements, repairs or renovations beyond 50 percent of the seawall's value, as set by the building official, must meet all of these requirements (Cocoa Beach Land Development Code Section 3-28).

Maintenance is a standing duty. Every owner must keep the seawall in good repair, and the code presumes a wall is in disrepair if it lets the upland erode, lets material pass through, or lets tidal water flow through to neighboring lots or public rights-of-way; owners may not let tidal water entering through a deficient seawall affect adjacent property or the public right-of-way (Cocoa Beach Land Development Code Section 3-28). Section 3-28 was adopted by Ordinance 1627 on March 7, 2019 and last amended by Ordinance 1686 on February 15, 2024 (Cocoa Beach Land Development Code Section 3-28).

Yes: the Cocoa Beach code calls a living shoreline an environmentally and economically viable choice, but any part that involves a structure or moves land material still needs a city building permit (Cocoa Beach Land Development Code Section 3-28).

Section 3-28 describes natural vegetation as usually less expensive than other options, resilient against water and storm surge, good habitat for aquatic life, and often a cause of accretion, the build-up of sediment that is the opposite of erosion. When a living shoreline adds or removes land material, the applicant must submit an engineered site plan showing at least grading and drainage, a dredge and fill permit may be needed under the criteria in Chapter IV, Article VIII, and an FDEP permit or written authorization may also be required (Cocoa Beach Land Development Code Section 3-28).

The Banana River that borders Cocoa Beach holds the Banana River Aquatic Preserve, whose FDEP page names mangrove planting, oyster reef restoration and seagrass surveys among its conservation efforts and lists red, black and white mangroves among its plants (FDEP Banana River Aquatic Preserve).

The Banana River beside Cocoa Beach holds a 30,000-acre state aquatic preserve designated in 1970, and the city code requires an FDEP permit or written exemption first wherever aquatic preserve restrictions apply (FDEP Banana River Aquatic Preserve, Cocoa Beach Land Development Code Section 3-28).

The FDEP preserve page describes a long, wide and shallow estuarine lagoon with essential habitat for the West Indian manatee, lists Outstanding Florida Waters among its habitat types, and names the Ramp Road Park boat ramp as an access point. It warns that seagrass is protected within aquatic preserves, asks boaters to avoid shallow water and raise the motor over seagrass, and says seagrass damage can bring a fine of up to $1,000 (FDEP Banana River Aquatic Preserve).

State law sets the size thresholds for exempt docks. Section 403.813 exempts certain private docks from state permitting if they have 500 square feet or less of over-water surface in Outstanding Florida Waters, or 1,000 square feet or less elsewhere, stand on pilings or float, may not substantially impede water flow or create a navigational hazard, are used for noncommercial boat mooring and are the sole dock built under the exemption along 65 feet of shoreline, or on a platted lot with less shoreline than that. Floating boat lifts have their own exemption, capped at 500 square feet, or 200 square feet in an Outstanding Florida Water, when not inside a previously permitted slip (Florida Statutes section 403.813). Whether a given Cocoa Beach lot falls inside the preserve or Outstanding Florida Waters is a question for FDEP before the city application.

All Banana River waters in Cocoa Beach, including its canals, are a designated manatee protection zone where motorboats must run at slow speed and minimum wake outside specifically exempted areas and channels (Cocoa Beach City Code Section 5-14).

Speed zones appear on the official Cocoa Beach Waterways Chart and on posted signs, and any wake that damages or tends to harm people or property is a violation. Boats may not be tied to public signs, markers or buoys, may not be moored in a way that restricts or endangers another vessel's passage except in an emergency, and may not block an adjoining owner's equal access to the waterway (Cocoa Beach City Code Section 5-15). Section 3-28 adds that a boat docked within 15 feet of a side property line must not significantly impede docking at the neighboring lot, and it keeps riparian rights under Florida Statutes section 253.141 for ingress and egress (Cocoa Beach Land Development Code Section 3-28).

Living aboard is limited. Section 5-29.1 bars living aboard a vessel unless it is docked at a licensed marina with adequate sanitation, defining live aboard as three or more days, 72 hours, in a week, with a maximum of nine days in a thirty-day period, and exempting casual overnight or weekend stays on a boat with adequate sanitation (Cocoa Beach City Code Section 5-29.1). Section 5-32 forbids dumping wood, glass, trash, grass clippings, sewage or any unsanitary matter into the city's canals and waterways, or letting it seep or flow in from property an owner controls (Cocoa Beach City Code Section 5-32).

Last verified: October 21, 2026, against fresh reads of Cocoa Beach Land Development Code Section 3-28, City Code Chapter 5, the Cocoa Beach Building Division page, the FDEP Banana River Aquatic Preserve page and Florida Statutes section 403.813.