Do You Need a Shoreland Permit in New Hampshire?

Yes, if your project builds, digs or fills within 250 feet of a lake or pond larger than 10 acres, a larger river or tidal water. New Hampshire's Shoreland Water Quality Protection Act, RSA 483-B, requires a state permit from NHDES for that work, separate from the building permit your town issues.

Plenty of lakeside jobs fall outside it. A new roof, siding over siding or a repaved driveway that keeps its shape usually needs no shoreland permit at all. The trick is knowing which side of the line your project sits on before the excavator shows up.

Which waters and which part of your lot are covered?

The protected shoreland is all land within 250 feet of the "reference line" of a public water, measured horizontally. According to the NHDES Protected Shoreland FAQ, public waters are:

• lakes, ponds and impoundments larger than 10 acres;
• year-round streams and rivers of fourth order or higher;
• rivers and segments designated under the Rivers Management and Protection Program;
• coastal waters, meaning everything that rises and falls with the tide, including the Great Bay Estuary, tidal rivers and tidal marshes.

The reference line depends on the water. For a lake it is the elevation on NHDES's consolidated list. For a river it is the ordinary high water mark. On the coast it is the highest observable tide line, which is why the rule matters in Seacoast towns like Hampton and Seabrook as much as on Lake Winnipesaukee.

Inside the 250 feet, two closer bands carry stricter limits. The woodland buffer runs 150 feet from the reference line, and at least a quarter of the area between 50 and 150 feet has to stay natural woodland. The waterfront buffer is the first 50 feet, where tree cutting is scored tree by tree and new houses are not allowed: the primary building line sits 50 feet back.

Which projects need a shoreland permit?

The test in RSA 483-B is simple: construction, excavation or filling inside the protected shoreland needs a permit. NHDES has published a long list of activities that do not count. Here is how common homeowner projects sort out, based on that list.

Project within 250 feet	Shoreland permit?
New roof, windows or siding over old siding, same footprint, no digging	No
Skylight or dormer that barely changes the outside dimensions	No
Repaving a driveway with no change in footprint	No
One shed under 150 sq ft, 50+ ft back, no machine digging, no heat, power or plumbing	No
Fence put in with hand tools	No
A new well, including its trench to the house	No
Replacing a failed septic system with no increase in loading	No
New deck, or changing the size of an attached deck	Yes (or a permit by notification)
Addition, or enclosing a porch to make living space	Yes
A new patio or walkway, or regrading the yard	Yes
New septic system on an undeveloped lot	Yes

Lawn mowing, pruning and removing dead or unsafe trees need no permit either, though the vegetation limits in the buffers still apply.

Is there a lighter permit for small projects?

Yes. A project that disturbs no more than 1,500 square feet and adds no more than 900 square feet of impervious surface (roofs, decks, patios, driveways) can usually go through a permit by notification instead of a full application. Under RSA 483-B, NHDES has five business days to accept or reject a notification, and 30 days to act on a full application. A shoreland permit runs for five years.

Two rules shape bigger projects. Impervious surface may cover up to 30 percent of the lot inside the protected shoreland, and above 20 percent a stormwater plan is required. NHDES runs an online questionnaire, linked from its Protected Shoreland page, that walks an owner through whether a specific job needs a permit.

What about an older house close to the water?

Many lake cottages sit well inside 50 feet. NHDES calls these nonconforming structures, and they can be repaired, and even raised with a vertical expansion, without a shoreland permit if the footprint does not change, interior living space does not grow and nothing is dug or filled.

Enlarging the living space is different. It needs a permit and a plan that makes the property more nearly conforming, and enclosing an open porch or deck between the house and the water is prohibited. A new or larger deck on such a house can reach no more than 12 feet toward the water.

Does the town building permit cover it?

No, and this is the part owners miss. RSA 483-B states that a local approval does not exempt anyone from the state permit, and it lets towns adopt shoreland ordinances stricter than the state's.

Center Harbor puts it plainly on its code enforcement page: work inside 250 feet of the shore needs a state shoreland permit, docks and other work at or over the water need a state wetlands permit, and the town's own ordinances are often stricter than the state rules.

The two permits also live in different files. Across the 13,851 permit records we hold from four New Hampshire towns (Concord, Hampton, Exeter and Seabrook), only one mentions "shoreland" in its description. The state permit is tracked by NHDES, which lets you look up an application's status through its OneStop system.

What should you ask before you start?

Before any digging, get answers to five questions:

1. Is the water on NHDES's consolidated list, or a fourth-order or designated river? Some urban areas also hold an exemption, shown on NHDES's map.
2. Where exactly is the reference line, and how far is the work from it?
3. Will the job dig, fill or add a roof, deck or patio? If so, does it fit the permit by notification limits?
4. Does any of it touch the bank or the water? That is a wetlands permit.
5. What does the town require on top? Find your building department in our New Hampshire building department directory.

For siding and windows on a lake house, our New Hampshire siding permit guide covers the town side. For the shoreland side, NHDES answers questions at shoreland@des.nh.gov.