Rochester Hills, MI Environmental Rules: Boat Dock Permits (2026)

Section 138-9.102 of the Rochester Hills Zoning Ordinance requires a minimum 25-foot setback from any natural feature, such as a wetland, watercourse, lake, or woodland, and bars filling, dredging, construction, or removal of material within that setback. Section 138-9.104, titled Exemptions, then lists activities the City of Rochester Hills exempts from that setback rule even though they occur within it, and dock installation is named directly alongside seawall and fence installation and routine beach sanding and lawn maintenance. The exemption is narrow: the ordinance says explicitly that other sections of the ordinance may still apply, so a dock built near a regulated wetland or watercourse can still trigger a separate use permit under Chapter 126, Article III (Sections 126-561 and 126-562), which requires city approval, a state department of environmental quality application form, a boundary determination, and a 90-day review period before construction in a watercourse or wetland.

Section 126-502's list of activities exempt from that separate use-permit requirement does not include docks, meaning a lakefront or creekside dock in Rochester Hills is exempt from the natural features setback distance but is not automatically exempt from wetland/watercourse use-permit review if it sits within a mapped wetland or watercourse boundary. Applicants should request the written wetland and watercourse boundary determination from the Planning Department before installing a dock to confirm which regime applies.