Discuss the site-specific concept with SCDES before treating it as settled
A shared dock can reduce structures along a creek, but the agency still reviews the actual site and proposal.
SCDES shared-dock FAQ ↗Joint-use dock planning
Shared Dock Planning Guide
A shared dock is both a waterfront project and a long-term operating relationship. Work through the site, ownership, use, maintenance, cost, and permit questions before design decisions become expensive.
13 shared-dock planning checksFor neighboring owners and communitiesPrint for planning meetings
Use it this way: Use this checklist to expose the decisions that need to be made. Shoreline can organize the project questions; recorded rights, title effects, and enforceable agreements belong with the appropriate legal/title professionals.
Fit
Confirm that shared use makes sense for the site and owners
SCDES encourages joint-use/shared docks in appropriate situations, but the permit and owner arrangement still need to fit the specific property.
Check the Dock Master Plan if the properties are in a development
DMP review gives more favorable consideration to community and joint-use docks in some situations, but a conceptual DMP does not guarantee a permit.
SCDES Dock Master Plans ↗Confirm the parcels, boundary geometry, dock corridor, and access rights
Use surveys/recorded documents rather than informal assumptions about where a shared structure can sit or how each owner reaches it.
Agree on intended uses before design
Define boats, lifts, floats, fishing/sitting use, utilities, storage, guests, and access expectations so the physical design matches the relationship.
Agreement
Put the operating relationship in writing
SCDES specifically recommends defining maintenance responsibility and use up front. Shoreline can organize the questions, but owners should use appropriate legal/title professionals for the actual agreement.
Define construction, maintenance, repair, utility, insurance, and replacement cost sharing
Avoid vague 'split it later' language. Decide how ordinary maintenance and large capital work are approved and allocated.
Define who schedules inspections and routine maintenance
Specify who can authorize urgent work and how the other owner is notified when a safety issue cannot wait.
Define access, guests, boats, parking, gates, and hours if relevant
Operational friction is often more important than the initial construction. Write down the practical rules while everyone agrees.
Define how future additions or changes are approved
A lift, roof, float, utilities, or larger vessel can change use, cost, and permitting. Decide whether unanimous consent is required and who pursues approvals.
Address what happens when one property is sold
Work with the appropriate legal/title professionals so ownership, access, cost obligations, and recorded rights do not become ambiguous at transfer.
Project
Run one design, permit, and construction process
A shared dock should not become two owners separately directing the same contractor and permit team.
Choose who is the primary project representative
Give professionals and contractors one clear decision/contact path while preserving whatever approvals the agreement requires.
Approve one written project brief before proposals
Document intended use, vessel/lift needs, access, utilities, permit assumptions, cost allocation, and owner responsibilities.
Make permit ownership and future records explicit
Keep applications, approvals, amendments, drawings, surveys, and closeout records accessible to both properties.
Store the final agreement and project records together
The next owner or contractor should be able to understand the shared structure without reconstructing years of email history.
When the checklist surfaces a real project
Turn the shared-dock idea into one project brief.
Shoreline can structure the site, intended use, permit questions, professional roles, and owner decisions before contractor matching.
Tell Shoreline what I need →Primary sources
Use the official source for the final answer.
SCDESCritical Area FAQSCDES guidance encouraging joint-use/shared docks and defining maintenance/use questions to address up frontSCDESDock Master PlansCurrent DMP review factors and treatment of joint-use/community docks
Sources reviewed September 13, 2026. Requirements can change and site-specific decisions belong to the responsible agency or qualified professional.