Dock and Shoreline Permits on Smith Lake: Alabama Power's Rules, Fees and Transfers

On Smith Lake, the shoreline is not part of your lot. Alabama Power's shoreline guidelines for Smith Lake (revised July 15, 2025) state that Alabama Power owns the pool properties of the lake and has additional property rights along the shoreline: it owns land in fee up to the 510-foot mean sea level contour and holds a flood easement up to 522 feet. Anything you build, repair or change on that land needs a written permit from Alabama Power's Shoreline Management office before work begins. This guide summarizes the residential rules. It is not a substitute for the guidelines, which Alabama Power can change and which say exceptions may be made at its discretion. Read the current Smith Lake Guidelines (PDF) before you spend money.

What needs a permit

The guidelines cover piers, landings, boat docks and their anchors, decks, staircases, boathouses, access ramps, gazebos, dredging, seawalls and rip-rap for bank stabilization, and re-grading. Alabama Power's permits page says a permit may be needed for work in the lakebed, the flood easement or the control strip, and excludes painting and pressure washing. Stilted single-family structures within the flood easement are handled under a separate section of the guidelines. Multi-family and non-residential projects use separate guideline documents that we did not review.

How the process works

1. Contact the Shoreline Management office for Smith Lake before any construction or repair. The guidelines list it at 5558 Curry Highway, Suite 3, Jasper, 205-384-7385. Alabama Power's permits page explains the online request; submitting the form starts the process but does not issue a permit.
2. Provide the documents the guidelines list: a signed copy of the guidelines, your deed (or lease), a survey if Alabama Power decides it is needed, your contact details, the name of any contractor you will use, a sketch of existing and proposed structures, and anything else Alabama Power requires. If your subdivision has an architectural review, get that approval too.
3. Alabama Power may meet you at the site. In a 2022 article it said staff make up to two or three site visits per permit and that review can take up to 30 days or longer.
4. After approval and payment of the fee, you receive a permit and a pending-permit tag is placed at or near your lot. A written permit and a visible pending-permit tag are required before work starts; verbal approval is not enough. Alabama Power does not give permits or permission to your contractors.
5. You have one year to finish. An extension of up to 90 days is treated as a modification and may carry the modification fee. When the work is done you must notify Alabama Power, which confirms compliance, photographs the structure and posts a permanent permit tag.

Size and design limits

The guidelines call these the ordinary maximums; they may not be allowed in every situation.

• Total allowable square footage for structures such as a floating dock, boathouse or wet slip: 1,444 square feet. Structures may not exceed 92 feet in length. A walkway 6 feet wide or less is not counted.
• Setback: structures should be at least 15 feet from an extension of your property line into the lake, though there is no right to that setback.
• Lots with less than 100 linear feet of shoreline may be restricted or ineligible. In a narrow slough no structure may extend more than one third of the way across at full pool.
• Roofed structures must be open, not walled, except that part of one exterior side may be walled for a storage area. No toilets, sinks, showers or tubs. No more than two levels of accessible flooring.
• Up to two personal watercraft floats or lifts are allowed; a third counts against the square footage and needs a written permit. Ramps are limited to 20 feet in width in total.
• Deep-water anchors are not required, and where used must meet the conditions in the guidelines.
• Bank stabilization: rip-rap and natural stabilization are preferred; seawalls are judged case by case. Dredging needs prior approval, including the spoil site.
• Fences are prohibited at the shoreline. No swimming pool, spa or hot tub may be placed or kept on Alabama Power's fee-owned land or flood easement.
• You may not charge others to use a permitted facility, with the exception of occasional, non-primary rental-by-owner arrangements, and no commercial activity is allowed on Alabama Power's fee-owned property.
• Extra rules apply in areas identified as sensitive. Alabama Power's 2022 article says that since 2012 it has applied special shoreline rules to identified flattened musk turtle habitat, expanded in 2020 to other listed species, with enhanced natural stabilization required for some work. Its contractor guide says that construction is allowed between November 1 and March 31 in areas identified as potential flattened musk turtle habitat.

Fees (July 15, 2025 schedule)

All fees listed are non-refundable. Alabama Power can change them, so confirm against the current guidelines.

• General construction fee: $400. Elevated structure construction fee: $500.
• General repair fee: $200, for substantial repair as Alabama Power defines it.
• Permit modification fee: $100.
• Unauthorized construction fee: $600. Unauthorized structure repair fee: $400.
• Non-compliance fee: $800, when work does not match what was approved.
• If a permitted structure is totally destroyed by natural causes such as a storm or fire, you can apply for a replacement permit without these fees if you apply within 180 days.
• Unpaid fees can also carry Alabama Power's collection costs and attorneys' fees, under the guidelines.

A permit is a license, not ownership

The guidelines describe the permit as a "mere license" for use of Alabama Power's land. Alabama Power keeps the right to raise or lower the lake, can require you to remove, alter or relocate a facility, can revoke a permit for violations if they continue 30 days after notice, and can revoke summarily in some circumstances. You have no right to a view. You are responsible for the structure's design, safety and upkeep.

Buying a property that already has a dock

• Ask for the permit and the pending or permanent tag information. Docks that predate the program or do not match the guidelines may fall under "legacy structure" rules; there is no fee for the legacy permit itself, but enlarging or rebuilding one needs Alabama Power's written permission.
• The permit is non-transferable without Alabama Power's written consent, which it can grant or withhold at its sole discretion. The seller must give Alabama Power written notice of the buyer's name and address at least seven days before transfer, and must tell a potential transferee about the permit and its terms. A transfer without consent can be voided, though the person using the dock is still bound by the terms.
• Check that the dock matches the sketch in the permit. A change needs prior written approval.
• Ask what the water depth is at the end of the dock in winter; see Understanding Smith Lake Water Levels.
• Subdivision covenants may be stricter than Alabama Power's rules.

The full checklist is in Buying Waterfront Property on Smith Lake.

Finding help

Dock builders and lift dealers with verified profiles in our directory include BMS Marine Inc., Dock Springs, Free State Boat Docks and HydroHoist of Alabama; browse all in the dock builders category. A listing is not an endorsement. Whoever you hire, the permit is the owner's responsibility. Listings whose sellers state a dock is in place are on the homes with docks page.