Little Lagoon and West Beach bulkhead planning

Get to know your waterfront

Gulf Shores reaches west to about longitude -87.80, so Little Lagoon, Willet Point and West Beach all sit inside the city. The city counted 15,014 residents in 2020. The city describes the lagoon as a brackish lake about 8 miles long and three-quarters of a mile wide. It sits between Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge on the west and Gulf State Park on the east. West of the lagoon's west end, the shore leaves the city and the Fort Morgan Peninsula begins.

TIGERweb Census Current (2026) Legal and Statistical Entities, Incorporated Places layer (January 1, 2026 vintage), point-in-polygon queries · TIGERweb Census 2020 layers (Incorporated Places / Census Designated Places), POP100 and HU100 fields · Request for Qualifications RFQ 2023-0307, Little Lagoon Restoration Project

What to settle before a Little Lagoon wall is designed

Settle three things first: whether your lot faces the lagoon or the Gulf, what the city requires before a permit, and how the pass changes lagoon water levels. A canal lot on the southeast side adds a fourth question about culverts.

The city asks for state and federal approval first

Gulf Shores will not issue a permit for a new bulkhead, retaining wall, wharf, pier or boathouse beside navigable water. The Corps of Engineers and Alabama State Lands must approve it first. 2025 permit handbook The handbook allows a narrow shortcut. When a structure already exists and the change is modest, the city can sometimes issue a permit without the owner applying to the Corps first. Nationwide permit note

The Building Department is at 205 Clubhouse Drive, Suite B, and takes calls at (251) 968-1150. City Building Department Applications go through the city's contractor portal. City portal A bulkhead or retaining wall permit costs $50, plus a $25 application fee. City fee code Starting work early costs $250 plus double the permit fee for a first offense. Unpermitted work fees

West Beach on the Gulf: the Gulfside Yard

Every lot that touches the Gulf has a Gulfside Yard, measured from the mean high tide line to the Coastal Construction Line. The zoning code bars structures there, including a bulkhead, wall or fence, with exceptions for sand fencing and dune walkovers. Zoning Sec. 6-3D The city code also bars bulkheads on Gulf beaches or primary dunes. A wall is allowed only if it is landward of the line, protects an existing or previously permitted structure, and has no workable alternative. City Sec. 7-122

Before the city issues any permit for riprap or other armor on the Gulf beach, you must show all required state approvals. City Sec. 7-123 The city runs the state's coastal rule locally. ADEM delegation The Gulf-front armoring guide explains the line, dunes and turtle season. Lighting rules apply on the beach side too. Turtle lighting zone

The lagoon is a dune lake with a managed pass

No river feeds Little Lagoon. The inlet once wandered over a 3 to 4 mile stretch of coast. After the 1969 Callaway Bridge went in, the state was told to keep it open. Sheet-pile jetties built in the early 1980s came out after a lawsuit by west-beach owners. Gulf Frontal plan Under the court order that followed, ALDOT must keep the pass dredged to about 3 feet. The state replaced the bridge starting in 2013. Bridge rebuild

The pass is not a boat channel, because a 1985 Coast Pilot entry gave a controlling depth of only 1.5 feet through the opening. Coast Pilot 5 Because lagoon levels follow the pass, set cap and deck heights from a survey tied to a tidal datum, not from today's waterline. Ask your surveyor to show both the datum and the date.

Mo's Landing as the local model for softer walls

The city's own lagoon park shows what it expects owners may copy. Mo's Landing, on Fort Morgan Road, has about 100 feet of failing wooden bulkhead and 90 feet of bank that erodes badly each year. The city planned a living shoreline demonstration there, testing plantings, marsh sills, coir logs and sand fill. Mo's Landing RFQ About a quarter of the watershed's classified shoreline is already hardened, and the regional plan notes that vertical walls reflect boat wake energy. NOAA shoreline data The state's own survey found Little Lagoon about 31.7% armored in 2011. Shoreline armoring survey

• On a low-energy lagoon lot, a marsh sill may be a realistic alternative to rebuilding timber. See the living shorelines guide.
• The federal living-shoreline permit allows work up to 30 feet waterward of mean low water and 500 feet along the bank. NWP 54
• The state classifies the whole lagoon for shellfish, swimming and wildlife, which raises the bar on sediment. ADEM use class

Water quality, septic tanks and what the city funds

Little Lagoon has frequent blooms of Pseudo-nitzschia, a diatom that can pass along low levels of domoic acid, and researchers linked them to groundwater. Bloom studies The city's RESTORE project funds septic-to-sewer conversion of about 200 systems and a living shoreline demonstration, and its performance period ends November 30, 2026. RESTORE program If your lot is on septic, ask the city what remains available before you dig behind a wall.

The city also bought 53 acres on the lagoon's south shore with 6,100 feet of shoreline for Laguna Cove Nature Park, which began construction in June 2026. Laguna Cove Public ramps at Mo's Landing and Little Lagoon Pass Park are the usual staging points. Public launches

Storms and flood rules

Hurricane Sally came ashore at Gulf Shores in September 2020. Along the Gulf-facing beaches it caused little to no structural damage, while the back-bay waters took the major flooding. NHC Sally report NWS Mobile Baldwin report Beach fill is routine here, including an 850,000 cubic yard emergency fill on West Beach in 2003. Beach fill history

The city requires residential floors at least one foot above base flood elevation south of State Highway 180. City flood ordinance Gulf Shores is a Class 10 community in FEMA's discount program, which means no premium discount. FEMA CRS list The insurance guide explains what flood policies leave out.

What could the work cost?

Little Lagoon jobs often carry two extra costs. One is an engineer's survey tied to a tidal datum. The other is sediment control for a water body the state protects for shellfish and swimming. Ask bidders to list both. See the cost guide for ranges.

Orange Beach permit values are what applicants declared for fee purposes, not invoices. Public bids carry bonding and county terms. Prices for steel, concrete, composite and aluminum come from outside Alabama and are labeled with their geography.

Find the relevant permits and records

Prepare the questions for the responsible office.

Little Lagoon pre-bid checklist

Four checks come before bids on this shore, and you can pull every record yourself.

1. Find out which side of the line you are on

   The city ends near longitude -87.80, and the peninsula starts just west of the lagoon. Confirm on the county Parcel Viewer's city limits layer before you call a city office.

   TIGERweb Census Current (2026) Legal and Statistical Entities, Incorporated Places layer (January 1, 2026 vintage), point-in-polygon queries · Permitting FAQs | Baldwin County Building Department

2. Request the lot's elevation certificate

   The city keeps elevation certificates for structures built from 1998 forward. Ask for the one on your lot at (251) 968-1142 for newer homes.

   FAQs - Building Department | Gulf Shores, AL

3. Ask the city about septic and canal work

   If you are on the southeast canals or a septic system, ask what the lagoon restoration project still covers.

   Request for Qualifications RFQ 2023-0307, Little Lagoon Restoration Project · Request for Qualifications RFQ 2023-0307, Little Lagoon Restoration Project (Task 3)

4. Get a survey tied to a tidal datum

   Have a licensed surveyor mark mean high water and the Coastal Construction Line if you face the Gulf. Hand the same survey to every bidder.

   ADEM Form 166, Joint Application and Notification (rev. 8/19) · ADEM Admin. Code Chapter 335-8-2, rule 335-8-2-.08 Construction and Other Activities on Gulf Front Beaches and Dunes

Keep planning

Nearby waterfront guides

Intracoastal Waterway & Oyster Bay, Gulf Shores, Fort Morgan Peninsula, Gulf-front Orange Beach

View the local guide directory.