Plan adjoining seawalls together

Start with the connection between the properties

Bring both surveys to the first discussion. Mark where the caps meet, where a return wall begins and where a dock or fence crosses the proposed access route. The City checklist asks for adjoining seawall elevations. That makes a side-by-side survey review more useful than comparing photographs alone.

• Which wall is moving, leaking or losing fill?
• Does a raised cap change the transition at the boundary?
• Who will design and price the connection?

Agree on access before requesting shared mobilization

Put proposed equipment routes, working hours, storage and restoration on a simple sketch. Naples' published staging guidance excludes residential vacant lots; an empty neighboring lot is not automatically available for a contractor's materials.

Ask for written permission before including another owner's driveway, dock or lawn. Record who restores pavers, irrigation and landscaping, and what happens if one owner's permit or financing is delayed. A contractor should price the practical access arrangement, rather than an assumed route through somebody else's property.

Keep each owner's price understandable

Request separate quantities for each property and a clearly identified shared-mobilization item. Compare engineering, approvals, demolition, anchoring, drainage, return walls and restoration. A lower combined total is meaningful only when the same work is included.

• Keep individual contracts, approvals and payment obligations identifiable.
• Ask how changes at one wall affect the other price.
• Confirm who receives inspection records and final surveys.

The cost guide helps separate known amounts from work that remains unpriced.

Leave the meeting with a short decision list

Choose one person to circulate drawings and questions, while each owner retains control of their own decisions. Ask the designer to identify independent work and work that must be sequenced together. Include the waterway, parcel addresses and whether the shore is natural or a manmade canal.

Naples staff makes that water-body determination during application or pre-application review. Use the permit guide before setting a construction date, and record every unresolved approval beside the proposed schedule.

Make shared costs traceable to each property

Ask for a short schedule attached to each proposal. It should explain the shared items even if only one owner proceeds.

Common questions