Fairhope Bulkhead and Pier Permits, Alabama

Two city offices matter. Building Inspection and Permitting is at 555 South Section Street, open weekdays 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., and the number is (251) 990-0153. It reviews building and land use permits and enforces floodplain rules. City of Fairhope Building Inspection Planning and Zoning is at 451 Pecan Avenue, (251) 990-0214. City of Fairhope Planning page

The zoning ordinance, amended June 3, 2025, has no section setting pier, dock, bulkhead or bluff standards. A waterfront lot is simply one next to Mobile Bay, and accessory structures built over state submerged land skip the front and side yard setbacks. Fairhope Zoning Ordinance 1253 Fairhope Zoning Ordinance 1253

Silence in the zoning text is not the same as no rule, so confirm with Planning and with Building. Flood rules are firm: Ordinance 1643 enforces the maps dated April 19, 2019. City of Fairhope Floodplain Management

• Anyone doing work in the city's police jurisdiction needs a Fairhope business license, and the Revenue Department checks state licenses first, (251) 928-2136. City of Fairhope Revenue Department
• An owner of record may pull permits by swearing to do the work personally. Licensed subcontractors are allowed. City of Fairhope permits page

State and federal steps still apply. See the permit guide for the Corps, ADEM and State Lands order.

The Fairhope Single Tax Corporation holds roughly 4,500 acres, about a quarter of the city, mostly downtown and east along Fairhope Avenue. Lessees own the house and improvements but lease the land. Fairhope Single Tax Corporation

On a leasehold, the Corporation signs the building permit application as landowner. Any replat or other change that affects the land needs its endorsement. Fairhope Single Tax Corporation The Corporation's pages say nothing about piers or walls, so ask whether your lease terms limit shoreline work. Call (251) 928-8162. The office is set to move to 10 N Summit Street on January 1, 2027. Fairhope Single Tax Corporation

The municipal pier and park sit at the west end of Fairhope Avenue. The 1,448 foot pier was destroyed by Katrina in 2005 and reopened in November 2006. City of Fairhope A real sand beach survives north of it, while the beaches south of the pier that existed in 1955 are mostly gone behind hard walls. MBNEP Eastern Shore plan

In the 2009 count for the pier frontage, 4,523 feet of shore is bulkhead and 578 feet is seawall. Another 1,822 feet has added sand, and 5,743 feet is still natural. MBNEP Eastern Shore plan Volanta Gully, at 221 tons of sediment per square mile a year, is the lowest reading in the plan's table of gullies and creeks. MBNEP Eastern Shore plan

Two details matter to bayfront owners.

• The Fairhope Bayfront historic district, listed in 1988, is roughly bounded by Blakeney, North and South Summit, Fels Avenue and the bay. MBNEP Eastern Shore plan
• Steadman's Landing, a former steamboat landing, is one of three historic sites the estuary plan names on the Eastern Shore. MBNEP Eastern Shore plan

No source covers the Fruit and Nut District's own shoreline, so check with Planning for anything specific to it. The Fly Creek and south Fairhope guide covers the creek and the shore below the pier.

The city's 50-year-old wall at the pier failed in a way private owners should know. Anchoring hardware gave out, panels shifted, and water behind the wall washed sand from under the walkway. That left voids and sinkholes, especially after tropical storms. Fox 10, April 2024

The fix was a rebuild paid for by a $6.2 million RESTORE Act grant plus $3.5 million more from the Alabama Gulf Coast Recovery Council. The construction contract was awarded on April 22, 2024. City of Fairhope Working Waterfront page Fox 10 reported the project dedicated on March 26, 2026. Fox 10 Zeta damaged the same wall in 2020. National Hurricane Center

The tieback and anchor service page and the soil loss and drainage page explain how such failures are repaired.

You have to check the parcel. Montrose is split. City limits have gaps along the Montrose shore, so neighbors can answer to different offices. In the 2020 census file for the Montrose ZIP area, only about 0.2 of roughly 1.0 square kilometers of land lay inside Fairhope. Census Bureau boundary layers

Baldwin County permits unincorporated land, plus Perdido Beach, Elberta and Magnolia Springs. Other city lots are permitted by their own city. Baldwin County Building Department Check the county's Revenue parcel viewer with the City Limits layer on. A parcel outside every city layer goes to the county. Baldwin County

For a county lot, marine work is filed as a flood permit in the county's online portal, with a Corps permit and a State Lands permit attached. Baldwin County

• A flood hazard area permit costs $75 here. Baldwin County fee schedule
• Call the Building Department at (251) 972-6837. Baldwin County Building Department
• A 2016 county hearing notice puts one Montrose parcel, on Graham Street, in Planning District 16 with county zoning. Baldwin County hearing notice

More is on the Baldwin County page.

Red Bluff runs from Sibley Street south to Rock Creek, and it is steep. A slide that began about 50 years ago now covers roughly half an acre. Bulkheads, retaining walls, riprap, groins and plantings hold the slopes south of it in patches. MBNEP Eastern Shore plan

Water from above is part of the problem. Rock Creek's load is 4,644 tons per square mile each year, and Red Gully's is 15,590, the highest in the plan's table. MBNEP Eastern Shore plan In the Rock Creek reach, 5,377 of 16,671 shoreline feet are bulkhead and 9,961 are natural. MBNEP Eastern Shore plan

The remains of a wooden boat or pier are embedded in the Ecor Rouge shore. Only about 2.5 percent of the watershed has been surveyed, so report finds when digging. MBNEP Eastern Shore plan

Rain and surge both matter here.

• In April 2014 over 20 inches of rain fell in two days across Baldwin County. MBNEP Eastern Shore plan
• In Katrina, flood marks north of Fairhope passed 13 feet, and the bluff limited how far inland the surge went. FEMA high-water-mark study

See the Daphne guide for the next city north.