Port St. Lucie, FL Environmental Rules: Erosion Control (2026)

21 of the Natural Resources chapter states that land-disturbing activity can cause excessive runoff, accelerate soil erosion, degrade wetland systems including estuarine wetlands in the North Fork of the St. Lucie River and the Indian River Lagoon, degrade water quality and shoreline resources, clog storm sewers and swales, and silt navigational channels, and that construction dust can create a nuisance for neighbors and degrade air quality. Because of those findings, no person may engage in land-disturbing activity in the city until a plan for the control of erosion and sedimentation has been submitted to and approved by the city, with the plan required to follow the city's Engineering Standards for Land Development.

Minor land-disturbing activities such as home gardens, individual home landscaping, repairs and routine maintenance are exempt as long as they do not generate erosion or degrade land or water beyond the property's boundaries. 21(D) authorizes the City Engineer or a designee to issue a stop-work order for any violation of the article. 24. 25 then requires the disturbed swale and surrounding yard areas to be sodded before the public works inspector will approve a final inspection, covering the swale strip to the property line, the front yard, both side yards to the rear wall, and a 10-foot strip beside any side lot drainage ditch.