Gulf Shores seawall permits
who approves what, in order

Who issues the permit for your lot?

Your parcel decides which office issues the building permit. State and federal approvals apply on top of it almost everywhere. Check jurisdiction first, then call that desk. Baldwin County permit jurisdiction

Sources: Gulf Shores Building Department Baldwin County Building Department Coastal Area Program Foley Building Department Magnolia Springs Town Hall

• The county's parcel viewer (isv.kcsgis.com/al.baldwin_revenue) shows city limits and building permit jurisdictions. A parcel in no city layer is permitted by the county. County jurisdiction how-to
• County staff also handle permits inside the towns of Elberta, Perdido Beach and Magnolia Springs. Baldwin County permit jurisdiction

See the Baldwin County hub for the county side.

Every agency phone number and office on this page is also collected on the resources page, grouped by city, county, state and federal office.

Find your area: West Beach, East Beach, Old Town canals, Little Lagoon north shore, Fort Morgan bay side and Bon Secour.

The order of approvals

Work at the water line usually passes through four desks: the Corps, ADEM, State Lands, then city hall or the county. The state splits its coastal work. State Lands handles planning, and ADEM handles permits and enforcement. ADEM coastal program page

1. Confirm which office permits your lot (above).
2. Get a survey and drawings that show mean high water and mean low water, the width of the waterbody, and the neighbors' names. Form 166 drawing rules
3. Apply to the Corps through its online Regulatory Request System. Form 166 is now a fallback in limited cases. Corps Mobile District page
4. Send copies to ADEM and to State Lands yourself. The Corps does not forward them. Alabama General Permits copy rule
5. Get the local building permit. In Gulf Shores that permit for a new bulkhead waits on written sign-off from both the Corps and State Lands. Gulf Shores handbook rule

Federal permits: Corps Nationwide Permits 13 and 54

Nationwide Permit 13 (bank stabilization) now carries most home bulkhead and riprap jobs. Living shorelines go under Nationwide Permit 54. The Corps reissued both on January 8, 2026, effective March 15, 2026 through March 15, 2031. 2026 Nationwide Permits

The Mobile District's 2026 Alabama General Permits took effect October 1, 2026. The old shoreline stabilization permit (ALGP-11) is retired, and its work moved to NWP 13 and NWP 54. 2026 Alabama General Permits Older handouts that cite ALGP-11 are out of date.

• NWP 13 needs a pre-construction notice if any of these is true: NWP 13 notice triggers
  • The wall runs longer than 500 feet.
  • Fill averages more than one cubic yard for each foot of wall, measured below the high tide mark.
  • The work touches special aquatic sites.
• NWP 54 always needs a notice and limits the footprint to 30 feet out from mean low water, though the Corps can waive that. NWP 54 limits
• NWP 3 is the route for fixing or rebuilding a wall that already had approval. NWP 3 text
• After a complete notice, work can begin once the Corps approves in writing, or after 45 days of silence. The 45-day rule does not apply where listed species or historic sites may be affected. Condition 32

Piers, lifts and boathouses usually fall under ALGP-05, with terminal structures up to 3,000 square feet. ALGP-05 limits The Corps Mobile District is at (251) 690-2658. Corps Mobile District page

ADEM: the coastal area and the bulkhead rule

ADEM's coastal area is everything below the continuous 10-foot elevation contour: the water, the bottom and the shore. A bulkhead on the water is almost always inside it. ADEM rule 335-8-1-.02

The bulkhead rule is strict. It allows no fill in wetlands or seagrass, and no wall below the tide mark or out over marsh. You must also show that a softer choice would not work. ADEM rule 335-8-2-.06

• ADEM has said most 2026 Nationwide Permits are consistent with the coastal program. For NWP 13 it asks for a design plan and a copy of your Corps notice. ADEM concurrence letter
• ADEM gives public notice at least 15 days before deciding a coastal permit or variance. ADEM rule 335-8-1-.14
• Phone the Coastal Program at (251) 304-1176. It sits on South Broad Street in Mobile, and email goes to coastal@adem.alabama.gov. ADEM Coastal Program page ADEM's own papers list other numbers, so confirm first.

State Lands: the state owns the bottom

Alabama holds title to land under tidal water, from mean high tide (the average high-tide line) outward. If any part of your work reaches past that line, you need State Lands approval. State Lands rule 220-4-.09

• Filing the state's impact request form costs $100. State Lands rule 220-4-.09
• A free Consent of Use covers three common jobs. One is a single-family dock or pier on less than 5,000 square feet of bottom. Another is a dock tied along an existing wall. The third is riprap on the tide line or up to 10 feet out. Consent of Use scope
• The 2-foot replacement rule lets a swap-out bulkhead go in as much as two feet toward the water from the tide line. New walls stay on the line or behind it. Replacement rule
• Docks must stay 10 feet inside your riparian lines (the side lines of your waterfront). No structure may cover over a quarter of the waterbody's width at that spot. Riparian setback Waterway width limit
• Bring a deed, lease or association papers that prove you control the upland. Upland interest rule

The Coastal Section is in Spanish Fort at (251) 621-1216. One county checklist prints a different number, (251) 621-1238. ADCNR contact page County marine checklist

Fees and the dates that matter

ADEM's fee rule changed on October 15, 2026. Non-Gulf shoreline work costs $1,000 for a bulkhead or riprap run up to 50 feet. Longer runs cost $1,665. ADEM Schedule B

An older ADEM schedule, effective February 14, 2026, listed $800 and $1,330 and still circulates online. The old ADEM application Form 328 also prints a $700 wall fee. Use the later schedule. ADEM February 2026 schedule ADEM Form 328

Sources: ADEM Schedule B ADEM pier fee ADEM Gulf-front fee ADEM variance fee State Lands application Corps fee rule

ADEM invoices the highest applicable fee and wants payment within 30 days, with no refunds. ADEM fee rules Whether ADEM bills work that rides on a pre-certified general permit was not confirmed, so ask when you file.

Compare these with real job prices in the bulkhead cost guide.

Gulf Shores city lots

Inside city limits, start at the Building Department, 205 Clubhouse Drive, Suite B. The phone is (251) 968-1150. Contractors apply through the city's online portal, and owners acting as their own contractor may too. Gulf Shores Building Department Gulf Shores portal

• Corps and State Lands approval must come first when the job is a new pier, boathouse, wharf, retaining wall or bulkhead. Some changes to an existing structure are judged case by case. Gulf Shores handbook rule Handbook note on existing structures
• A bulkhead permit is $50 plus a $25 application fee. Piers and boathouses are $4 per $1,000 of value. Gulf Shores fee schedule
• Work started before the permit costs $250 plus double the fee on a first offense. Gulf Shores fee schedule
• Piers must follow the city's hardware rules, including 316 stainless fasteners, and these apply to rebuilt piers too. Gulf Shores pier standards Pier ordinance reach
• Jobs of $50,000 or more need an engineer's seal. Gulf Shores Code Sec. 7-6
• In a flood zone you also need a floodplain development permit. Gulf Shores flood code

Plash Island and the police jurisdiction

Plash Island sits in Gulf Shores' police jurisdiction, not inside the city limits. The city lists the Plash Island Area, the County Roads 6 and 8 areas and the North East Gulf Shores area as police-jurisdiction properties. Gulf Shores annexation page

Several city rules reach those areas anyway, including the wind-load rule, the erosion article and the pier definition. Gulf Shores code reach The Plash Island and Bon Secour River overlay sets a 50-foot waterfront setback for non-Gulf lots, or 25 feet with engineered filtration. Gulf Shores zoning

Read the Plash Island guide for the local setting.

Unincorporated Baldwin County

Fort Morgan, Bon Secour and Weeks Bay lots outside any city are permitted by Baldwin County. In the county portal, docks, piers, boathouses, lifts and walls on the water are filed as a flood permit under the marine accessory type. County marine permit rules

• The county says a marine accessory outside a flood hazard area does not need a county permit, although another agency may still need to sign off. County marine checklist
• Upload the Corps permit and your State Lands notice with the application. County marine permit rules
• County fees are a $75 flood permit, trade permits at 1.5 percent of value, and $15 and $10 add-ons. County fee schedule
• Complete applications usually take 7 to 10 business days. County permit portal
• Land disturbance is $25 per activity at Planning and Zoning, which has a Foley satellite office at 201 East Section Avenue. Planning and Zoning fees Planning and Zoning offices
• A penalty equal to the permit fees, capped at $5,000, can apply to work done without a permit. County fee penalty

In Weeks Bay, the Alabama General Permit for piers adds limits: no more than 300 feet long and 620 square feet of terminal decking. ALGP-05 Weeks Bay limits ADEM may also refuse uses that would change the reserve's natural state. ADEM rule 335-8-1-.04 See the Weeks Bay guide. Bayside owners at Fort Morgan can read the Fort Morgan bay guide.

Fort Morgan Gulf front

Gulf-front lots on the Fort Morgan peninsula follow a separate track. Baldwin County's Coastal Area Program permits work on beach and dune parcels crossed by or seaward of the state Coastal Construction Line. County Coastal Area Program

• Applications run through the county portal and take about six to eight weeks, with a 30-day public notice. Coastal Area Program timing
• The county's 2014 fee schedule lists $1,110 for a single-family house and $665 for a modification without public notice. ADEM's current Gulf-front wall fee is $2,545. Coastal Area Program timing ADEM Gulf-front fee
• Beach mouse rules may require a federal permit before a building permit issues. The Daphne office is at (251) 441-5181. USFWS beach mouse page USFWS Daphne office

For more, see the armoring guide and the Fort Morgan Gulf side page.

Foley and Magnolia Springs

Foley wants its own riparian structure permit for every new pier, dock, boathouse, retaining wall, wharf and bulkhead, and for repairs on structures damaged more than 50 percent. A smaller repair needs a repair permit. Foley Code Sec. 4-226

• The permit costs $75, or $25 for a repair. Send a site plan plus the state and federal permits you already hold. Foley Code Sec. 4-227
• Foley's Environmental Department takes the application through its portal, usually within three business days. Foley Environmental Department
• A stop work order and fines of $100 to $500 a day can follow work before permits. Foley Code Sec. 4-230
• The Building Department is at 120 S. McKenzie Street, (251) 952-4011. Foley Building Department

In Magnolia Springs the county permits and inspects, but the town asks for its own Land Use Certificate before anything else. Town Hall is at (251) 965-9888. Magnolia Springs permit page Magnolia Springs Town Hall See the Magnolia Springs guide.

Emergencies, records and old paperwork

After a storm, the Corps' Alabama General Permit 15 allows emergency work when life or major property is at risk. The Corps may authorize it on first contact, and you must report within 60 days of finishing. ALGP-15 emergency permit ADEM can approve emergency actions for no more than 120 days. ADEM rule 335-8-1-.07

• Old county permits since November 1, 2020 are in the CitizenServe portal. County permit search
• ADEM's eFile and the Corps' public permit data show state and federal files. ADEM eFile Corps public data
• Only Alabama residents have a statutory right to public records, and agencies must acknowledge a request within 10 business days. Open Records Act

For damage steps, see the storm guide. Check whether a repair or a replacement fits in repair or replace.

Permit forms use terms like mean high water, riparian line and Consent of Use. The seawall glossary explains each one in plain words.

Official permit resources