804 Waterfront

NORTHERN NECK WATERFRONT PERMITS

Waterfront permits on the Northern Neck: who to call

Building a pier, adding a boat lift, putting down riprap or planting a living shoreline on the Northern Neck almost always takes a permit, and usually more than one. The good news is that it starts with a single application. This page explains the steps in plain English and lists the office to call in Lancaster, Northumberland, Westmoreland and Richmond County.

Northern Neck owners file about 420 waterfront permit applications a year with the Virginia Marine Resources Commission, based on state records for 2023 through 2025. Piers, docks and boat lifts are the most common projects, followed by riprap and living shorelines.

How it works, step by step

  1. One application starts everything. Your contractor or agent files a Joint Permit Application with the Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC). VMRC gives it a number and shares it with the other agencies that need to see it, including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Department of Environmental Quality, the Virginia Institute of Marine Science and your county.
  2. The county wetlands board may hold a hearing. Work in tidal wetlands, beaches or dunes goes before the county wetlands board at a public hearing, and your neighbors are notified first. Not every project needs one. A pier over open water may only need VMRC and county approval, and some living shoreline projects qualify for a general permit with no hearing at all. County staff will tell you which applies.
  3. The Bay Act covers the land side. Every Northern Neck county enforces the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act. Its main rule is a 100 foot buffer of natural vegetation along tidal shores and wetlands, called the Resource Protection Area. Clearing, grading or building in that buffer needs county review, even when the water side of the project is already approved.
  4. County building and land disturbance permits come last. Once the water side is approved, the county will tell you whether you also need a building permit, a land disturbance permit or zoning approval.

Plan on a couple of months from a complete application to approval for a typical project; Lancaster County’s own guide puts it at roughly two months. Virginia also prefers living shorelines, such as marsh plantings and low stone sills, over bulkheads where they will work, so expect questions about them for erosion projects.

Your county office

Call your county first. Staff can tell you whether your project needs a hearing, which local permits apply and when the next filing deadline is.

Lancaster County

  • Who to call: Planning & Land Use Office, County Administration Building, 8311 Mary Ball Road, Lancaster, VA 22503, (804) 462-5220. The office supports the wetlands board and handles the Bay Act ordinance and land disturbance permits.
  • Wetlands board: meets on the second or third Thursday of the month at 9:30 a.m. in the Board of Supervisors meeting room. The county posts each year’s hearing dates and filing deadlines.
  • Good to know: the county’s guide says Lancaster wetlands permits are good for one year unless stated otherwise, and an orange “Wetlands Project” sign has to be posted at the road or the site.
  • Where the work is: about 150 applications a year, mostly on the Rappahannock, the Corrotoman and its branches, Carter Creek, Myer Creek, Dymer Creek and Antipoison Creek. Living shorelines are nearly as common as riprap here.

Northumberland County

  • Who to call: Office of Building & Zoning, P.O. Box 129, Heathsville, VA 22473, (804) 580-8910.
  • Wetlands board: hearings are held in the evening at the Sheriff’s Office, 195 Judicial Place, Heathsville. Start times have varied, so check the notice for your hearing.
  • Where the work is: about 170 applications a year, the most on the Northern Neck, on the Little and Great Wicomico rivers, the Potomac, Cockrell Creek, the Coan River, Indian Creek and Dividing Creek. After piers and boat lifts, riprap is the most common project.

Westmoreland County

  • Who to call: Land Use Administration, P.O. Box 1000, Montross, VA 22520, (804) 493-0120.
  • Wetlands board: meets on the third Monday at 1:30 p.m. at the George D. English Sr. Memorial Building, 111 Polk Street, Montross.
  • Where the work is: about 85 applications a year, on Lower Machodoc Creek, the Potomac, Mattox Creek, Nomini Creek, the Yeocomico River and Monroe Bay at Colonial Beach.

Richmond County

  • Who to call: the county’s Land Use Administrator, through the county office at 101 Court Circle, Warsaw, VA 22572, (804) 333-3408.
  • Wetlands board: hearings are on Thursday evenings at 7:00 p.m. in the Public Meeting Room, 101 Court Circle, Warsaw.
  • Where the work is: about 20 applications a year, mostly along the Rappahannock and Totuskey Creek. Bulkheads and groins make up a bigger share of the work here than anywhere else on the Neck.

State and regional offices

  • Virginia Marine Resources Commission, Habitat Management, 380 Fenwick Road, Building 96, Fort Monroe, VA 23651, (757) 247-2200, jpa.permits@mrc.virginia.gov. This is where the Joint Permit Application goes.
  • Northern Neck Soil and Water Conservation District, Warsaw, (804) 313-9102. It serves all four counties. Ask about cost-share programs for erosion control and living shorelines before you sign a contract, because some programs will not pay for work that has already started.

Office details were checked in October 2026 against county websites and public hearing notices. Schedules change, so confirm with the office before you plan around a date.