Bulkheads, Docks and Waterfront Title on Long Island: Who Owns the Bay Bottom and What Permits You Need

A Long Island house on a canal or bay usually owns land only out to the mean high water line, the average high tide mark. The land under the water, and often the strip your dock crosses, belongs to New York State. In several towns it belongs instead to the town or its trustees, under a colonial-era grant.

So your bulkhead and dock sit partly on someone else’s land, and each needs its own permits. A title search confirms who owns the dry land on record. It does not confirm that the dock was permitted or that the bulkhead sits on your side of the line.

This guide covers Nassau and Suffolk counties. Bay bottom ownership differs by town, and permit rules differ by agency.

Who owns the bay bottom and the shoreline

New York State. The Office of General Services (OGS) holds the beds of many waters “in trust for the people of the State of New York.” For tidal waters, OGS says the state-private line is generally the “mean high water mark.” It is measured at “the last known natural location, prior to the placement of any fill” (OGS, lands underwater). OGS keeps no list of state-owned waters, since ownership is often mixed; ask OGS about a specific spot.

Towns and town trustees. Many Long Island towns got bay bottoms, beaches and creeks under 17th-century royal grants called patents. Those grants survived independence. In those places the town or its trustees own the underwater land instead of the State, holding it in trust for the public.

Town Who owns the bottom Based on
Southampton Town Trustees 1686 Dongan Patent
East Hampton Town Trustees 1686 Dongan Patent
Brookhaven Trustees or Town Town Code
Huntington Town Colonial patent
Oyster Bay Town (Oyster Bay) Andros Patent

Sources: Southampton, a 2016 Suffolk County court decision; East Hampton, a 2023 Trustee resolution (bottomlands owned “in fee title,” including Georgica Pond and Three Mile Harbor) and the Dongan Patent text; Brookhaven, Town Code; Huntington, a 2005 Attorney General opinion; Oyster Bay, a 2019 appeals court decision.

These grants have limits. In Oyster Bay, the town owns “the underwater land beneath Oyster Bay,” but the State owns the bottom north of a line from Rocky Point to Whitewood Point. Who owns the Peconic Bays is disputed: Southold court decisions treat them as state waters, while Southampton claims rights under its patent (Farrell Fritz, May 2026). For any other town, the patent and the specific water have to be checked one by one.

Whoever owns the bottom must agree to a dock as owner. That is separate from any permit.

Why a waterfront property line can move

Many waterfront deeds run “along the high water line” of a bay or creek, not to a fixed point. That line moves with the water. Under long-standing rules applied in New York (summary):

  • Accretion, a slow build-up of sand or silt, adds land to the waterfront owner.
  • Erosion, a slow loss, takes land away.
  • Avulsion, a sudden change such as a storm breach, does not change who owns what.

A survey shows the high water line only as of the survey date. Two surveys years apart can show different acreage with no sale in between.

In West Hampton Dunes, beach built up after the 1992 and 1993 storms. The Southampton Trustees called it sudden change on their bay bottom; the owners called it slow build-up on their lots. In 2010 an appeals court let the case go forward for about 30 parcels (2010 decision). In 2018 it sent the owners’ defenses to trial, again without deciding who owns the land (2018 decision).

Filled land behind bulkheads. Many Nassau and Suffolk canal lots were made by dredging and filling. OGS measures the state line at the natural high water line before any fill. Land filled on the water side of that line may still belong to the State, or to the town where it owns the bottom. That changes only if a grant transferred it. OGS offers grants to clear title to filled land. Only the owner of the neighboring dry land can get one (state law). Whether a grant exists is a records question. Where the original shoreline was is a survey question.

Your rights to the water: access, not ownership

Owning land on the water gives you riparian rights (on bays and the ocean, sometimes called littoral rights). New York’s highest court described them in a Long Island case. Waterfront owners “generally are entitled to access to water for navigation, fishing and other such uses,” including “the right to make this access a practical reality by building a pier, or ‘wharfing out.’” Those rights are “qualified by other rights in the owner” of the bottom. Neither side may act in a way “unreasonably intrusive upon the other’s rights” (2001 Court of Appeals decision).

So a riparian right is a right to reach the water and build reasonable access, subject to permits. It is not ownership of the bottom or a right to any particular dock. When neighbors disagree over where one owner’s waterfront ends, the answer turns on riparian lines. OGS handles complaints about interference with “free and direct access to navigable waters” and sets survey principles for fixing those lines (OGS).

Permits for bulkheads and docks

A bulkhead or dock on Long Island can need up to five separate approvals. Each stands alone; having one doesn’t satisfy another.

Who approves What it covers
NYS DEC Tidal wetlands and the land next to them
NYS DEC or the town Coastal erosion hazard areas
US Army Corps of Engineers Work in navigable waters
OGS Use of state-owned underwater land
Town, trustees or village Local wetlands, docks, owner consent

DEC tidal wetlands. DEC regulates tidal wetlands and an “adjacent area” reaching up to 300 feet inland (150 feet in New York City). It stops sooner at the 10-foot elevation line, or at certain existing structures, such as a road or a bulkhead at least 100 feet long (DEC rule on adjacent areas).

Under DEC’s permit table, “ordinary maintenance and repair (not involving expansion or substantial restoration, reconstruction or modification)” needs no permit. But these all need one:

  • “in-kind and in-place replacement of existing functional bulkheads”
  • new bulkheads
  • new docks

For Nassau and Suffolk, DEC’s General Permit GP-1-22-001 covers removing and replacing “functional, lawfully existing” bulkheads. It limits how far the new one can extend toward the water and how high it can be. No work may start until DEC signs the project approval. A failed or never-permitted bulkhead does not fit that description. One 2026 example: a 64-foot bulkhead replacement on Randall Canal in Freeport. DEC’s notice lists tidal wetlands, digging and fill in navigable waters, and a federal water quality certification (DEC notice).

Coastal erosion areas. DEC maps cover “the entire coastline of Long Island.” In a mapped area, any action that “materially alters the condition of land” needs a coastal erosion permit. The town or village issues it if it has a DEC-certified program; otherwise DEC does (DEC).

Army Corps. A federal law (Rivers and Harbors Act) requires Corps approval for structures in navigable waters. Smaller projects often go ahead under the Corps’ standard nationwide permits for maintenance and bank stabilization. DEC’s December 2025 water quality approval for the reissued nationwide permits leaves out “construction of new bulkheads or vertical walls” (DEC letter). So that blanket approval does not cover new bulkheads.

OGS. On state-owned bottom, a dock needs “a lease, easement, permit, or other interest” from OGS (state law). OGS exempts non-commercial structures under 4,000 square feet that hold five or fewer 30-foot boats and meet its other limits (OGS thresholds).

Towns, trustees and villages. Where the town owns the bottom, it acts as owner as well as regulator.

  • Brookhaven. “No person shall construct or repair a dock located on Town of Brookhaven parkland or land underwater” without a permit (Brookhaven).
  • East Hampton. The Trustees require yearly dock agreements, charged at $1.00 per square foot with a $150 minimum. They review unpermitted docks case by case (Trustee resolution).
  • Southold. The Board of Trustees regulates docks and bulkheads in wetlands and within 100 feet of them (Southold Town Code).
  • Villages. A village inside a town can regulate dock building. It also has sole control of anchoring and mooring within 1,500 feet of its shoreline. In the Attorney General’s view, that does not override the town’s rights as owner of the bottom (AG opinion).
  • Southampton, Peconic Bay. On April 16, 2026, the Southampton Town Board adopted a local law banning new private docks along its Peconic Bay shoreline. That includes Great and Little Peconic Bays. Waterfront owners dispute the town’s authority (Farrell Fritz, May 2026; 27east).

What the title report and survey cover on the waterfront

Title insurance covers the dry land. The standard owner’s policy used in New York since October 1, 2024 (the 2021 ALTA form) covers the land described in the policy (policy text in New York’s title rate manual). It says that land does not include “any right, title, interest, estate, or easement in any abutting street, road, avenue, alley, lane, right-of-way, body of water, or waterway.” So ownership of the bay bottom and your riparian rights are not insured unless the policy says so expressly.

Waterfront title work can cost more. New York’s title rate manual allows extra charges when the search involves “land under water,” among other complications.

Exceptions in the title report. The rate manual has no standard exception for waterfront rights. But waterfront reports often add specific ones to Schedule B, the list of things the policy won’t cover. Common examples:

  • rights of the State or town in land below the high water line
  • other owners’ riparian rights
  • any part of the property that is filled land

The title company and its underwriter word these for the specific property.

The survey reading. Without a survey, the policy keeps a general exception for “any state of facts an accurate survey would show.” A bulkhead or dock over a line falls within it (survey exception guide). With a survey, the title company lists what the survey shows. Examples: a dock beyond the high water line, a bulkhead off the record line, or a neighbor’s float crossing the extended side line. Each becomes a specific exception that the buyer’s attorney reviews with the rest of the report (title search and title report).

Unpermitted or encroaching docks and bulkheads

A missing dock permit is not a lien and won’t show up in a lien search. It’s a regulatory and possession problem that stays with the property when it’s sold.

Where the town owns the bottom, an unpermitted dock sits on town land. In East Hampton:

  • Owners get six months after notice to apply to legalize one
  • The Trustees may deny the application
  • Future unpermitted expansions get “heightened scrutiny”
  • Dock agreements require written notice to the Trustees of a planned sale, with the buyers’ names; failing to give it “may result in forfeiture of the right to maintain this Annual Dock Agreement”

DEC permits can move to a new owner, but not automatically. DEC requires the seller’s consent and asks for the transfer application at least 30 days before ownership changes. Tidal wetlands permits are listed as transferable (DEC permit transfer policy). Expired permits can’t be transferred.

A dock or bulkhead that reaches onto a neighbor’s waterfront is a survey matter. It shows up in the survey reading, not the records search.

Bulkhead condition and the seller’s disclosure

A bulkhead’s condition is a question about the property’s condition, not a title defect. Since March 20, 2024, sellers of one- to four-family homes must give the buyer the Property Condition Disclosure Statement; the $500 credit option is gone (NYSBA).

The form (New York’s disclosure law) has no bulkhead or dock question. The questions that touch the waterfront are:

Anything else, such as the bulkhead’s age or condition, comes from inspections, engineering reports and the contract.

Where to find the answers

Question Where it is answered
Who owns the bottom? OGS; town trustees or patent
Was land filled? Any grant? OGS grant records; title search
Where is the high water line? Current survey
Is the bulkhead permitted? DEC permit; town records
Is the dock permitted? DEC, Corps, OGS, town, village
Coastal erosion area? DECinfo Locator map
Transfer of permits? DEC transfer; trustee agreement

Deeds are recorded with the county clerk (Nassau and Suffolk county clerk land records). Survey-related add-ons to the policy are in title insurance endorsements.

Details for attorneys and title professionals

  • Cases behind the ownership table. The Southampton row rests on a 2016 trial court decision (New York Supreme Court, Suffolk County) in the West Hampton Dunes litigation. The Oyster Bay row and the Rocky Point to Whitewood Point line come from a 2019 decision of the Appellate Division, Second Department, the appeals court for Long Island.
  • West Hampton Dunes appeals. In 2010 the appeals court held that an earlier ruling on a single parcel did not decide the issue for the other parcels. In 2018 it sent three owner defenses to trial. Two said the claim came too late (statute of limitations) or was unfairly delayed (laches). The third said the owners had gained the land by long open use (adverse possession). See Official sources for full citations.
  • Upland grants. “Upland” means the dry land next to the water. The rule that filled-land grants go only to the adjacent upland owner, and the OGS dock interest requirement, are in the Public Lands Law. Riparian-line complaints go to OGS under the Navigation Law, and a state regulation sets the survey principles for those lines.
  • Permit references. Each row of the permit table has its own legal basis. DEC acts under its tidal wetlands regulations and the coastal erosion article of the Environmental Conservation Law. The Army Corps acts under the Rivers and Harbors Act, and OGS under the Public Lands Law. Towns, trustees and villages act under their local codes.
  • Nationwide permits. The Corps’ nationwide permits most often used here are NWP 3 (maintenance) and NWP 13 (bank stabilization). The Freeport notice listed a Clean Water Act water quality certification.
  • Policy and rate manual. The “Land” definition quoted above is in the definitions at the start of the 2021 ALTA Owner’s Policy conditions. The TIRSA Rate Manual reprints the policy and also sets the extra charge for “land under water.” The exact section numbers for both are in the TIRSA entry in Official sources.

Official sources

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Korvane Title is preparing to launch in New York. It is not licensed as a title insurance agent and does not accept title orders. Content on this site is general information, not legal advice.