Islamorada is its own village with its own land development rules, and they allow seawalls, riprap, and bulkheads inside the shoreline setback under village standards.
866-398-9323Licensed seawall specialists — FL · GA · SC
Seawall Repairs by Solid Foundations provides seawall repair in Islamorada, FL for canal-home owners, sportfishing lodges, and marina operators. Typical projects include void fill behind Plantation Key canal walls, cap repair on Upper Matecumbe bulkheads, and riprap added at the toe of existing walls. Call 866-398-9323 or use the quote form to book a free on-site inspection.
Islamorada, Village of Islands, incorporated on December 31, 1997. It covers five keys: Plantation, Windley, Upper Matecumbe, Lower Matecumbe, and Tea Table. Because it's a village, its seawall rules come from its own code, not Monroe County's. The area knows storms well. The 1935 Labor Day Hurricane killed 423 people here, and Irma brought 4 to 6 feet of inundation to the Middle and Upper Keys in 2017. Islamorada jobs are dispatched by our Miami seawall repair team, our closest South Florida hub, which plans crews and permits for the Upper Keys.
The village's land development regulations, as amended by Ordinance 24-15, list seawalls, riprap, and bulkheads among the water-dependent structures allowed inside the shoreline setback. The setback that limits most building near the water doesn't apply to them, as long as they meet village standards.
Two outside layers still apply:
Monroe County counts 513 canals in the Keys, all affected by Irma to some degree. It estimated about 100,000 cubic yards of marine debris. In Islamorada's canals, debris and boats struck walls, and surge loosened the fill behind them. As that water drained, sand left through any open joint.
We usually find:
None of these fix themselves. Each tide moves a little more sand, so a small void found early is far cheaper to fill than a collapsed section later.
Many Islamorada repairs involve a dock tied into the wall. Florida's Keys dock rule (F.A.C. 18-21.0041) limits private docks to 4 feet wide and terminal platforms to 160 square feet over state lands, with -4 feet MLW depth at the mooring. If your dock has to come off for wall work, those limits shape what goes back. That's one more reason a land-side repair, which leaves the dock in place, is often the simpler path on these keys.
North, Key Largo seawall repair works under Monroe County's code, since Key Largo isn't a city. South, Marathon seawall repair serves another separate city with its own building department. Farther down the chain, Big Pine Key seawalls took Irma's worst surge. All four share the marine sanctuary's rules.
Request a free inspection or call 866-398-9323. Licensed in Florida (CBC1267322), serving FL, GA, and SC since 1996.
The village does. Islamorada incorporated in 1997, and its own land development regulations govern seawalls on its five keys.
Plantation Key, Windley Key, Upper Matecumbe Key, Lower Matecumbe Key, and Tea Table Key.
If the work may affect corals, the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary requires NOAA authorization and a benthic survey. Repairs done from the land side often avoid that.
No. Village code lists seawalls, riprap, and bulkheads as water-dependent structures allowed in the shoreline setback. ---
In addition to Islamorada, our licensed seawall repair team serves these nearby Florida communities:
Service Area: Florida Bay and the Atlantic Ocean
We serve all waterfront properties on Florida Bay and the Atlantic Ocean and surrounding canals, lakes, and waterways.
Seawall Repairs by Solid Foundations also serves these waterfront communities near Islamorada:
Licensed, insured, NCFI-certified. Serving Florida, Georgia & South Carolina since 1996.
866-398-9323