Lillian and Elberta bulkhead planning

Get to know your waterfront

Lillian sits on the north shore of upper Perdido Bay near the Alabama-Florida line. The Census Bureau counts it as a place with no municipal government, home to 1,330 residents in 2020. Most of the ZIP area lies outside that census boundary, so a Lillian mailing address says little about who permits the shore. The Town of Elberta (1,974 residents) sits inland, and its limits do not reach the Perdido Bay shoreline tested at Suarez Point or Lillian.

TIGERweb Census Current (2026) Census Designated Places layer; 2020 ZCTA-to-place relationship file · TIGERweb Census 2020 layers (Incorporated Places / Census Designated Places), POP100 and HU100 fields · 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

What to settle before a Perdido Bay wall is designed

Settle four things first: which office holds your parcel and how much wave energy reaches your bank. Then check whether the bluff behind the wall is moving and what the state and the Corps need to see. Each one changes the design and the bid.

Lillian lots are county lots, and Elberta lots are too

Baldwin County's Building Department permits the unincorporated areas plus the Towns of Elberta, Magnolia Springs and Perdido Beach. Land inside any other city goes to that city. County permit jurisdiction For a bulkhead, seawall, pier or boat lift in unincorporated Baldwin County, the application is a Flood Permit with the sub-type Marine Accessory, filed in the CitizenServe portal. Marine Accessory permit

The county checklist is narrow. A marine accessory application is required inside a Special Flood Hazard Area, and outside one the county says it does not require a permit for the work. State and federal approvals can still apply either way. County checklist The flood permit fee is $75, and every permit adds a $15 data processing fee and a $10 issuance fee. County fee schedule The Baldwin County permit guide covers the full process.

Elberta, in short

Elberta began in 1903, when a group of Chicago businessmen bought about 53,000 acres, and it incorporated in 1952. Elberta history Inside town limits, the Planning Department at Town Hall, 13052 Main Street, issues a Land Use Certificate. Staff are part-time and take calls at (251) 986-5995, extension 4. Elberta Planning The department helps only with parcels inside the corporate limits and sends everyone else to the county. Elberta parcels outside town limits

• Elberta does not appear on FEMA's list of communities that earn a flood insurance discount. FEMA CRS list Unincorporated Baldwin County, where Lillian sits, is Class 7 with a 15% discount. County CRS class
• Wolf Bay frontage, including Peterson Point, is covered in the Wolf Bay guide rather than here.

A long fetch, southerly waves and falling bluffs

Perdido Bay is irregular and shallow, with depths of 6 to 20 feet. Its highway crossing at Cummings Point has a fixed span with 39 feet of clearance. Coast Pilot 5 Waves cross a long stretch of open water before they reach Lillian. A wave model run for the county found that typical daily waves run about 0.4 to 0.8 feet under south winds. SWAN wave model

The county has already treated the problem at its own park. A state RESTORE project at Lillian Park aims for a stable sand beach and less wave hazard. It also aims to reduce sand piling up on the boat ramp, with protection for neighboring land. RESTORE Project 11 Separately, the county won $2,530,000 in federal offshore revenue funds to renovate Perdido Bay Park on County Road 99, including slope stabilization where the bluffs are eroding. GOMESA award

A regional plan lists these spots as eroding substantially: Perdido Bay Park, the Randolph Drive peninsula, Suarez Point and the Boykin Boulevard shoreline. Erosion hotspot list If your lot is on a bluff there, price toe protection and upland drainage, not only the wall face.

Typical walls and what public bids show

Vinyl sheet pile and timber are the common bulkhead faces on this bay, and Northeast Perdido Bay was about 36.9% hard-armored when the state surveyed it. Shoreline armoring survey The best local price check is a public bid. In October 2022 the county opened bids on the Lillian Boat Launch and Park. Six contractors priced 295 feet of vinyl sheet pile wall at about $256 to $611 per foot. Lillian bid tabulation Removing the old wall was bid at about $42 to $163 per foot. Lillian demolition bids

Storms on this bay

Hurricane Ivan made landfall just west of Gulf Shores in September 2004. NHC Ivan report Sally in 2020 did its worst work in the back bays and sounds, from east of Gulf Shores to the state line and north into Perdido Bay. The surge destroyed many docks and piers. NHC Sally report Read the wall's storm history in the storm guide before you decide between repair and replacement.

Water, wetlands and neighbors that draw questions

Reviewers pay attention to the creeks. The state classifies the tidal reaches of Soldier Creek, Palmetto Creek and Miflin Creek as swimming and fish and wildlife water. It classifies the Perdido River and Blackwater River as fish and wildlife water. ADEM use classes Mapped seagrass in the upper bay fell from about 11 acres in 1979 to none in 2002, which is why sediment control gets attention. USGS seagrass history

Water quality near the Lillian bridge is the weakest tested. Of 2,449 samples taken from 2005 to 2020 at four sites, 208 exceeded the state bacteria standard, and Lillian Bridge had the most. Western Perdido Bay plan North of town, the Lillian Swamp Complex is 2,141 acres of Forever Wild land beside the bay. Forever Wild Confirm your property line before you clear a bank or build a walkway near it.

State Lands, the Corps and the line down the bay

Alabama owns the bottom below mean high tide. State Lands rule A replacement bulkhead may sit at or within two feet waterward of that line and still qualify for a Consent of Use. Replacement rule The Corps' bank stabilization nationwide permit covers many walls under 500 feet. NWP 13 The Perdido River forms the state line, so a pier built toward the channel needs a boundary check before design. Coast Pilot 5 Our permit guide and replacement page explain the rest.

What could the work cost?

Lillian's public bids put vinyl sheet pile at about $256 to $611 per foot in 2022. Ask each bidder to price toe protection and drainage behind a bluff wall as separate items, and ask how the old wall will come out.

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.

Lillian and Elberta pre-bid checklist

Run these four checks before you collect bids, since each relies on a public record.

1. Check which jurisdiction holds the parcel

   Open the Revenue Commission Parcel Viewer and switch on its two layers for city limits and permit jurisdictions. A parcel in neither is a county parcel.

   Permitting FAQs | Baldwin County Building Department

2. Pull the wall's permit history

   Permits from November 1, 2020 forward are in the CitizenServe portal search. Older ones are on the Delta Computer Systems permit link. If nothing turns up, email the address to the county permitting desk.

   Search Permits, Reports, Certificates of Occupancy, & Elevation Certificates | Baldwin County Building Department

3. Read the deed and survey

   Search the Probate Office's official records online, where deed indexing runs back to 1899. Match the survey to any Forever Wild or State Lands tract next to you.

   Recording | Baldwin County Probate Office · Lillian Swamp Complex

4. Confirm the flood zone

   The effective flood maps for every Baldwin County coastal community date from April 19, 2019. Ask the county coordinator at (251) 972-6837 to help read the panel for your lot.

   Community Status Book Report: Alabama, Communities Participating in the National Flood Program (report date 10/31/2026) · Floodplain Management / Flood Zone Info | Baldwin County Building Department

Keep planning

Nearby waterfront guides

Perdido Beach & Josephine, Wolf Bay, Bear Point & Arnica Bay, Bayou St. John, Old River & Robinson Island

View the local guide directory.