When Section 8-90 reaches your wall
Section 8-89 says the rules apply to new tidal flood barriers, to substantial repair or rehabilitation of shorelines and shoreline structures, and to the installation of fixed infrastructure attached to a barrier, such as mooring structures. They do not apply to oceanfront beaches or shorelines seaward of the Coastal Construction Control Line (ordinance text).
Substantial repair has two tests in the Hallandale code: work along more than 50 percent of your shoreline, or a modification or installation of an attached structure, such as a dock or lift, costing more than 50 percent of a tidal flood barrier along your shoreline. A large dock project on a low wall can pull the wall into the height rule.
What the barrier has to do
Section 8-88 says the standard is meant to stop tidal flooding, not seepage, using water levels predicted for sea level rise, high tides and high frequency storm surge through 2070. The design rules in Section 8-90 follow from that (ordinance text):
- stop tidal water flowing through the barrier while relieving water pressure from the land side,
- tie into neighboring barriers where practicable,
- run along the property's entire shoreline when the work is a substantial repair,
- include natural limerock rip-rap or another approved habitat feature at the water face of every barrier.
Two Hallandale twists
- Side containment. Section 8-90 requires each seawall owner to add side containment barriers as necessary to keep rainwater on their own property. Raising the front wall is not always the whole job.
- Other measures can count. The section does not require a seawall where, in the city's opinion, other flood protection serves as an equally effective barrier. Barriers that rise automatically ahead of high tides are allowed if they do not need daily human intervention.
Next steps
A survey with existing and proposed elevations is part of the city's permit checklist, so it also tells you where your wall stands. See Hallandale Beach seawall permits, and if you have been cited, the Hallandale raise deadline.