The City of Fort Lauderdale may soon make it easier for waterfront properties to install living seawalls — innovative underwater shoreline structures that mimic natural habitats, improve water quality and give marine life a home.

City commissioners showed interest in a proposed program that incentivizes residents and businesses that own waterfront property to install living seawalls at Tuesday afternoon’s commission meeting. Unlike typical, flat concrete seawalls, living seawalls can be designed to look like mangrove roots, which provide small spaces for crabs and fish to live, promotes biodiversity and absorbs some of the impact from storm surges and strong waves.

The program, which the city hopes to launch in Spring 2026, covers 100% of the base fees for living seawall permits and expedites the permitting process, said Marco Aguilera, the Fort Lauderdale chief waterways officer.

The marine critters, like oysters, that attach themselves to living seawalls boost water quality by filtering excess nutrients, pollutants and suspended particles, according to Florida International University. In fact, just one oyster can filter 20 to 50 gallons of water daily. Aguilera cited a recent FIU study that analyzes existing living seawalls in South Florida, which found an increase in the amount of overall fish species and algae and the establishment of soft coral colonies.

“It’s a program that will be citywide, so residents along the North Fork, residents along the South Fork, residents along Las Olas,” Aguilera said at the meeting. “We have to make it available to everyone. All of our waterways are connected. If we improve the waterway quality in one section of the city, it will eventually leach over to other sections of the city as well.”

The proposal asks for a $50,000 dedicated fund from the city to cover living seawall permit base fees on a first-come-first-serve basis. In Fort Lauderdale, seawall permit base fees for both residential and commercial properties are 1.75% of the cost of the seawall installation. The proposed program would cover up to $3,500 for residential properties and up to $7,000 for commercial properties. The average seawall installation costs about $100,000, which makes the base permit fee $1,750, Aguilera said.

From October 2023 to October 2025, there were 176 seawall permits issued in Fort Lauderdale, but only one was a living seawall, Aguilera said. The proposed $50,000 fund could cover 28 living seawall $1,750 base permit fees, leaving $1,000 left over, he said.

“Going from one living seawall to 28 would be... I will personally buy fireworks and provide them for the city,” Aguilera said.

Property owners interested in installing a living seawall have to meet certain criteria to qualify for the program, including that the living seawall must be over 50 percent of the linear length of the seawall. Other building permit fees are not included in this program.

KindDesigns, a Miami-Based tech startup, has been promoting the benefits of living seawalls for South Florida waterfront cities, like Miami Beach. Maddie Rieger, a KindDesigns project lead, spoke at the commission meeting about how the startup 3D-prints living seawalls, which are made of a pH-neutral material that doesn’t leach harmful chemicals into the water.

“You see oyster growth, fish marine life flourishing around it because of the macro and micro habitat that a living sea wall creates,” she said. “Compared to a flat wall, you wouldn’t see the same habitat creation, same water filtering capacity, or same wave reflection that you get with a living sea wall.”

Most commissioners were excited by the proposal. Vice Mayor Steven Glassman thanked Aguilera for the work he’s gotten done in the short time he’s been chief waterways officer and quipped, “You’ve really gotten your feet wet.” Audience members groaned at the pun.

Commissioner Pamela Beasley-Pittman said she thinks the program will be popular considering she’s received many phone calls from residents about the high cost of installing seawalls.

“This is a great opportunity to do an alternative option and I believe those who are really trying to move forward, they’re going to take advantage of this,” she said. “So Marco, get ready for your fireworks.”

There was some pushback from Commissioner John Herbst, who said he likes the idea but does not agree with providing financial assistance to wealthy waterfront property owners, especially since the city has denied requests for fee waivers in the past.

“I support the program. I don’t support the financial contribution,” Herbst said. “These are not folks that need government welfare.”

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