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Hollywood seawall requirements and local evidence

Hollywood did not simply inherit the county rule. The City adopted its own ordinance in February 2022 creating a dedicated code section for seawalls and tidal flood barriers, and it publishes its own submittal checklist — which means the document set the City wants is knowable before you apply.

Reviewing authority

City of Hollywood Building Division, via its published Seawall Submittal Checklist

Broward County. Depending on scope and waterway, state and federal review may also apply.

Named waters

  • Intracoastal Waterway
  • Dania Cut-Off Canal area waterways
  • residential canals

What is documented for Hollywood

Everything below carries a classification label and a source. Where a source conflicts with another, both are shown.

LOCAL EVIDENCEHW-01

Hollywood adopted its own seawall ordinance rather than relying on the county standard alone.

  • The City updated its seawall ordinance (O-2022-01) on February 2, 2022, establishing tidal flood protection regulations and creating section 150.30 covering construction and infrastructure standards for seawalls and tidal flooding barriers that account for projected sea level rise.
  • Hollywood is one of 17 Broward municipalities with tidally influenced waterways addressed by the county policy and companion model ordinance.
Source
VERIFIEDBC-01

Broward County sets a countywide minimum tidal flood barrier elevation of 5.0 feet NAVD88, with a transition provision that runs to 2050.

  • Tidal flood barriers shall have a minimum elevation of five (5) feet NAVD88.
  • Applications for new or substantially repaired or substantially rehabilitated tidal flood barriers submitted prior to January 1, 2035 may be permitted a minimum elevation of four (4) feet NAVD88, if designed and constructed to accommodate a minimum elevation of five (5) feet NAVD88 by January 1, 2050.
  • Adopted by the Broward County Board of County Commissioners on March 31, 2020, as Article XXV of Chapter 39 of the Broward County Code of Ordinances.
  • The standard is written to address flood patterns and sea level rise projections through 2070.
  • The standard does not apply to oceanfront beaches or shorelines seaward of the Coastal Construction Control Line.

Read carefully: The 4-foot figure is a conditional transition allowance, not an alternative standard. It is only available where the barrier is designed and built to be raised to 5 feet by 2050.

Source
VERIFIEDBC-03

In Broward County, letting tidal water cross onto a neighbouring property or the public right of way is a citable offence, not merely a maintenance problem.

  • Causing, suffering, or allowing the trespass of tidal waters onto adjacent property or public right-of-way is declared a public nuisance and a citable offence requiring abatement.
  • Barriers below the 5 feet NAVD88 minimum are still required to be improved, designed and constructed so as to prevent tidal waters from impacting adjacent property or public right of way.
Source

Why Hollywood is published here

We publish a city only where at least two city-specific facts could be sourced. For Hollywood these are:

  • City ordinance O-2022-01 adopted February 2, 2022, creating section 150.30 (City of Hollywood)
  • City-published Seawall Submittal Checklist administered by the Building Division
  • Named by the City as one of 17 Broward municipalities with tidally influenced waterways

Ten of the eighteen cities we examined did not meet that bar and were not published. The full list and reasons are here.

What this does not tell you

Nothing on this page establishes what your specific wall needs. Requirements turn on your waterway, your scope of work and the current state of local code — all of which change. Use this to know what questions to ask and what a contractor should be able to cite, then confirm with the authority that administers it.

Next steps from Hollywood