Florida Seawall GuideDescribe My Seawall Problem

Pompano Beach seawall requirements and local evidence

Pompano Beach is the jurisdiction most likely to catch out a design imported from a neighbouring city. Its code sets a floor of 5 feet NAVD88 and a ceiling of 5 feet 10 inches NAVD88. A wall built to satisfy a taller standard elsewhere can be non-compliant here.

Reviewing authority

City of Pompano Beach, under Code § 151.05

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

Named waters

  • Intracoastal Waterway
  • Lettuce Lake area waterways
  • residential finger canals

What is documented for Pompano Beach

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

VERIFIEDPB-01

Pompano Beach is unusual: its code sets both a floor and a ceiling on tidal flood barrier height.

  • Tidal flood barriers shall have a minimum elevation of five feet NAVD88 and shall not exceed an elevation of five feet ten inches NAVD88.
  • The requirement sits at § 151.05 of the Pompano Beach Code of Ordinances.

Read carefully: A maximum height matters in practice. A design that satisfies a neighbouring city can be non-compliant here.

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-02

Broward County defines when a repair is large enough to trigger the elevation standard.

  • A "substantial" repair or rehabilitation has occurred when more than 50% of a property's shoreline structure is modified.
  • It is also triggered when an attachment — a mooring, for example — valued at more than 50% of the cost of installing a tidal flood barrier on the property is installed.

Read carefully: The second trigger is the one owners miss. Adding a valuable attachment can pull an otherwise routine project into the elevation standard.

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 Pompano Beach is published here

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

  • City Code § 151.05 setting minimum 5 feet NAVD88 and maximum 5 feet 10 inches NAVD88 (official code publisher)
  • City-published tidal flood barrier guidance on the municipal domain
  • Subject to the Broward County Article XXV countywide standard

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 Pompano Beach