Buffalo, NY Environmental Rules: Boat Dock Permits (2026)

City Code § 495-15, in Chapter 495, Wharves, Harbors and Bridges, requires every person, firm or corporation, before repairing, renewing, altering or constructing any dock within the City, or any sheeting, sheetpiling, wharfing or docking along the margin or banks of the channels of Buffalo River, Cazenovia Creek, Black Rock Harbor and the harbors, basins, slips and waters of the City, to first secure a permit from the Department of Public Works. The permit must specify the character and location of the proposed construction, repair, renewal or alteration.

Work done without a permit exposes the owner to a City order requiring removal at the owner's own expense; if the owner refuses, the Commissioner of Public Works is authorized to remove the unpermitted structure and charge the cost to the owner. Subsection B of the same section separately requires every dock or wharf owner to build mooring posts suitable and sufficiently strong to hold the largest vessels, using lines or cables strong enough to secure them at all times, with particular care called for during flood conditions and ice movement.

The dock permit sits alongside § 495-14, which independently obligates every owner or occupant of harbor-abutting property to keep wharves and docks in good repair and to maintain sheeting, sheetpiling and docking along the channel margins so navigation is not obstructed. A related permit under § 495-16 covers driving piles or placing other obstructions, or building within 40 feet of the harbor, which also requires written Commissioner of Public Works approval before work begins. Harbormasters and the City Engineer are charged under § 495-17 with reporting and forcing removal of any encroachment placed in the harbor without authorization.