ProjectionBoat slips, docks, wharves, dolphin poles, mooring piles or structures of any kind may not extend more than 10% of the canal or waterway width at that spot, measured from the seawall (or the recorded plat line if there is no seawall) - City Code 66-113(a)
Wider waterwaysOver 100 ft wide: up to 15% of the width but never more than 40 ft - 66-113(a)
Biscayne BayOn Biscayne Bay or another waterway more than 1,000 ft wide, subject to state and county approval, up to 125 ft from a residentially zoned lot and up to 250 ft from a business-zoned lot - 66-113(a)
BoatsNo vessel may be docked or moored so that it projects beyond the permitted projection for the structures, and no mooring is allowed along either side of the walkway from the seawall to the dock - 66-113(a)
Beside WD-1 and WD-2Any structure proposed more than 40 ft from a seawall next to the WD-1 or WD-2 waterway districts also needs conditional use approval from the Planning Board - 66-113(a)
PermitBuilding department permit, plus the state Internal Improvement Fund or any other agency with jurisdiction, and Army Corps approval where the lot abuts navigable waters - 66-113(b)
LightingAny dock or pier reaching 20 ft or more into a city waterway needs a light at its tip, lit dusk to dawn and visible from all approaches; shorter structures need reflector signals at least 3 inches across - City Code 66-115(b)
Derelict docksA dock disintegrated beyond 50% of its original members must be replaced, removed or rebuilt, within ten days if it has sunk below mean high tide (Pelican Island between the Julia Tuttle and Venetian Causeways excepted) - 66-115(a)
Foam floats bannedUnencapsulated expanded polystyrene floating docks, floating platforms and buoys are prohibited in all city waters - City Code 46-210
Miami-Dade County Class I permitAny work in, on, over or upon tidal waters or bay bottom anywhere in Miami-Dade County, cities included, needs a county Class I permit - County Code 24-48.1(1)(a). New boat slips at docks in tidal waters need at least 4 ft of water at mean low water; the depth rule does not apply to docks in bulkheaded artificial canals bordered by uplands on both sides, to lifts, davits and piles in slips at existing permitted docks, or to repair of existing legal docks with at least 3 ft of water - 24-48.3(3). A dock proposed beyond the boundaries in Sec. D-5(03)(2)(a) of the county Public Works Manual gets extra review factors - 24-48.3(1)(j)
State exemptionA private, non-commercial dock on pilings with 1,000 sq ft or less of over-water surface (500 sq ft in Outstanding Florida Waters), and the only exempt dock along 65 ft of shoreline (or one per lot if the lot is narrower), needs no state environmental permit - Fla. Stat. 403.813(1)(b). The exemption does not grant permission to use state-owned submerged lands and does not override city or county rules - 403.813(1)
FederalStructures in navigable waters need a Department of the Army permit, general or individual - 33 CFR 322.3(a)