# Private property rights on docks



## Perdido Kid (Oct 11, 2011)

I have been told many times that if one can access a dock or pier from below the mean high tide that there are no private property rights given to the property owner whose land the dock or pier attaches to. I have been looking on line for the state or county law that applies to this idea. Does anyone know if this is true or what chapter of the state or county law applies??


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## Ocean Master (May 20, 2008)

Most of us have to have steps on each side of our docks so people walking the tide line can cross. This started in the early 80's if I remember right. I live in the city of Gulf Breeze so it may be different in other county's/city's. You can not access the docks. You would have to find who owns the property if it's vacant and get permission.


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## SHO-NUFF (May 30, 2011)

Some landowners with docks legal property actually extends far beyond where the dock meets either land or a seawall. This is especially true for those that live on canals. Common courtesy is to stay off a private dock or pier unless invited. I had a neighbor in a rental property next door to me that thought my dock was a place to moor his boat, and my fishing tackle, crab and pin fish traps were there for Him to use at anytime. 
There are also some owners that become irate if you fish around their docks via a boat. Just don't board the dock, and there is nothing they can do if you are in a boat.


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## Perdido Kid (Oct 11, 2011)

Walking the shoreline is the issue one owner wants people to walk out into the water and go under his dock instead of up and over at the shore line to continue down the shoreline.


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## johnsonbeachbum (Oct 1, 2007)

From December of 2004:

Our program would be responsible for authorizing seawalls and piers. 
For the most part, we require seawalls to be placed along the current high water line
which may or may not represent the boundary between private property and
sovereignty submerged lands. 
Our rules do not require that individuals place walkovers to facilitate access by the general public. 
As far as what constitutes trespassing, as long as you walked below the mean high water line, you would not be trespassing on private property. 
Sometimes the mean high water line is at the current shoreline but it can also be out in the water due to erosion. 
It takes a registered surveyor to determine the location. 
I believe that the Santa Rosa Island Authority for Pensacola Beach
requires walkovers to be constructed so access is not blocked but I am
unaware of any such requirement in other Counties so you may want to contact
you local government to see.

Amy Porto
Submerged Lands & Environmental Resources Program
[email protected]


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## J rod (Sep 21, 2010)

what if a dock is to low to go under?? is it tresspassing to go over it as long as your out over the water


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## kandv2000 (May 10, 2012)

In Okaloosa we had a memo from the state attorney for this specific issue. There are very few properties in okaloosa county where the property ownership extends into the water (in an area you would build a dock). If you access the dock from the water, only privately owned things on the dock were private not the dock itself. You could sit on the dock and fish as long as you didn't mess with any of the owner's stuff. 

Same for (private) ponds. If you can gain access to it from public areas (road rightaways) you can put a boat in and fish.

Dont always agree, but thats how it was applied over here.


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## Water Spout II (Feb 26, 2009)

i find that hard to believe. You can't motor up to someone's dock and just get off on it and go fishing. Docks are private property and need to be treated as such. 

I fish off my dock and I fish from my boat around other people's docks. The last thing in the world I would ever do, or anyone should ever do, is tie off to someone's dock and get off on it and start fishing. 

If the dock owner comes out while I am fishing their lights, I always leave, as should anyone else that is doing it. It is common courtesy.


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## First Cast (Oct 8, 2007)

I've had fishing and boating stuff stolen off of our dock enough times that if I ever saw somebody on it without permission, it's not going to be a friendly meeting. People walk the shoreline all the time, and I have no problem with them stepping over the dock on their way by.


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## kandv2000 (May 10, 2012)

A dock is only private if you own the property it's built on (riparian rights). Most riparian rights do not convey with the property. If you do not have the land the dock is built on, legaly it's like building a dock onto your neighbors property and claiming its yours because you built it. The law stinks sometimes, but as long as people build docks on property they dont own they have docks they don't own. 

They own everything they attach to it, but not the dock. Someone sitting on it is a streach, we normaly dealt with it during huricanes. People would move their boats, and time them to random docks. Nothing we could do. like I said I dont agree with it, but there it is.


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## nextstep (Jun 27, 2008)

people who have waterfront property do have "riparian" or technically "littoral" rights on tidal waters. or can go even farther and get a submerged land lease.

as far as going on someones dock, it is private property. if i park my car in a public road it does not give others the right to have a seat. or if i anchor my boat in the bay it does not give you the right to come aboard.

what johnson beach bum posted from DEP is the way it is. they and the COE have jurisdicition.:yes:

kandv you are confused on a few points.


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## johnsonbeachbum (Oct 1, 2007)

Officer Summers has some advice for people on the water when these situations arise.
“Don’t get into a big confrontation,” he cautions. “What we recommend you do is to call the FWC Wildlife Alert hotline at (888) 404-3922, anytime, day or night. We want people to report these things. We can’t help if we don’t know about it.”

He advises that boaters and fishermen know the facts about what they can and can’t do near a homeowner’s property. Homeowners have rights, too.
“You can’t tie up on somebody’s dock and start fishing,” he said “And you can’t get out and walk on their dock because it’s private property — that’s trespassing


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## JustnCase (May 25, 2012)

I was taught to respect other people's property, and it's pretty simple thought process; if it aint yours, ask; if you dont ask, stay off of it. Most property owners are pretty approachable about this. I let the local kids who i know are the good kids (dont trash the dock and they clean up there soda cans and stuff at the end of the day) fish on our dock, and their parents know the rules. But it's never a good idea to just jump on a dock and start fishing. Fish the water, okay, but unless you ask, dont go there. I would not walk up onto someone's front porch and sit in their rocking chair without being invited. It is about simple courtesies, the basic stuff, not lawyers.


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## oldflathead (Oct 3, 2007)

Last time I checked it cost about $100 per linear foot to have a dock built. I pay almost $4,000 each year in property taxes for the privelege of living near the bayou. My dock is posted no trespassing.
I have invited and/or allowed various folks to tie up to my dock temporarily, set their pinfish or crab traps or fish from it - AS LONG AS THEY CLEAN UP AFTER THEMSELVES!
Do unto others as you wouuld have them do unto you.


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## jplvr (Mar 7, 2011)

(delete)


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