Palm Beach Gardens, FL Environmental Rules: Boat Dock Permits (2026)

Note 40 to Table 21, printed at § 78-159(j)(40), sets the dimensional and permitting standards for marinas and residential docks. Under the 'Minimum standards' subsection, a dock or boathouse 'shall not extend into the water more than 50 feet from the high-water shoreline or ten percent of the waterway width, whichever is less,' and within a residential canal specifically, a dock or private mooring is capped at 'the greater of a width of five feet or ten percent of the canal width.' Docks generally 'shall not be constructed with a width in excess of ten feet,' and any T or L projection at the end of a dock is limited to a maximum length of 20 feet and cannot extend beyond the required side setback for the property's zoning district.

Mooring pilings may sit up to 15 feet beyond the dock itself, provided the combined projection of dock and pilings from the high-water line does not exceed 'the lesser of 65 feet or ten percent of the waterway width.' Only one dock or mooring is allowed per residential lot, 'except in an approved PUD or PCD,' and boathouses built on an upland area are prohibited outright, whether proposed as an accessory or principal use. Before any of this can be built, subsection i requires that the city 'shall not issue a building permit to allow construction of a marina or a dock' until every federal, state, regional, or other agency with jurisdiction has issued its own approvals, permits, or authorizations for the structure.

A property owner applies through the growth management department's standard building permit process, but the city will not release the permit until those outside approvals are on file.