The Georgia Dock Permit, Explained

The Marshlands Act and Your Dock

Georgia’s Coastal Marshlands Protection Act puts the state’s marsh — a third of everything left on the Atlantic coast — under the protection of the DNR’s Coastal Resources Division (CRD). A private dock crosses that marsh, so a private dock needs state authorization: CRD’s program governs walkway dimensions, pierhead and float size, which creeks support docks at all, and how your structure sits within your property’s marsh frontage. Federal review through the Corps of Engineers rides along for the navigable water at the end.

What shapes your authorization

• Creek size and navigability — bigger water supports bigger structures; the smallest creeks can’t be docked.
• Marsh crossing — the walkway’s route and length across state-protected marsh is the heart of the review.
• Your frontage — structures must sit within your upland lot’s projection across the marsh; narrow lots mean careful geometry.
• Existing footprint — maintenance and like-for-like rebuilds of authorized structures move under far lighter review than new construction; an old permitted dock is an asset worth keeping alive.

The Process, Honestly

1. Feasibility read — your frontage, your creek, your likely limits, before anyone draws anything.
2. Survey and drawings — the application needs both; the contractor’s team produces them.
3. CRD review — typical dock authorizations run a few months; sensitive creeks and objections run longer.
4. Build — weeks, not months, once the authorization is in hand.

The honest planning rule: the permit takes longer than the dock. Spring water time starts with fall paperwork. The contractor runs the whole process — survey, drawings, application — and you shouldn’t have to learn any of it.