Adopted in 2022
The City Commission passed O-2022-015 on first reading on May 18, 2022 and adopted it on June 1, 2022, effective on adoption. It cites the county's January 7, 2020 land use Policy 2.21.7 and the county's March 31, 2020 model code as the reason (Ordinance O-2022-015).
Docks are in the definition
Oakland Park's definition of a tidal flood barrier lists mooring structures alongside berms, canal banks, seawalls, caps and upland stem walls. A mooring structure includes a dock, slip, davit, hoist, boat lift, floating platform, jet ski platform or mooring pile attached to land or a seawall (Ordinance O-2022-015). That wording is broader than many neighboring codes.
The substantial repair test uses value
Section 14-1 treats work as substantial repair or rehabilitation if it is either (Ordinance O-2022-015):
- a modification along more than 50 percent of the length of your shoreline, or
- any repair, reconstruction or improvement of the structure or attached structures, such as docks, costing 50 percent or more of the structure's fair market value before the work.
The county model compares dock work with the cost of a new barrier. Oakland Park compares it with the fair market value of the existing structure, so an appraisal or cost estimate matters.
The building official's older power
Section 14-1 opens with a rule that predates the height standard: when the building official determines that shoreline stabilization is needed to abate a public nuisance, or a condition harmful to the neighborhood or dangerous to navigation, the owner must provide uniform and substantial seawalls or another approved revetment (Oakland Park Code, Ch. 14).
Design rules
- Stop tidal water while relieving water pressure from the land side, and tie into neighboring barriers where practicable.
- Build along the whole shoreline when the work is substantial, with natural lime rock, rip-rap or another approved habitat feature at the water face.
- Automatic barriers that rise ahead of high tides are allowed if they need no daily human intervention, and the city does not require a seawall where another measure is equally effective.
Downstream, Wilton Manors requires 5 feet with no 4 foot option. For Oakland Park permits, see Oakland Park seawall permits.