Towns and landmarks
- Whitehouse
- Arp
- Tyler
- Troup
- Noonday
- East Lake Woods
- Lake Tyler Marina Resort
- Camp Tyler
Lakes We Serve · Smith County, TX
Boathouses, piers and retaining walls on Lake Tyler.
Two reservoirs, joined by a canal, run by one city — and governed by an elevation three feet above the waterline. On Lake Tyler the regulatory shoreline is the 378-foot contour, not the water's edge, and every plat drawing has to be measured from it.
Two Lakes, Two Kinds of Tenure
Whether you lease or own decides how your project starts.
Lake Tyler lots are leased from the City. Lake Tyler East lots are privately owned but must be registered with the City Clerk.
That split is the first thing to establish. Approval for construction is granted only upon confirmation of a current lease on Lake Tyler lots, or of current lot ownership registration with the City Clerk on Lake Tyler East lots — and in both cases only after a physical on-site inspection by a Lake Supervisor. A project that begins with drawings instead of with that confirmation is a project that stalls.
The lake-specific rules live in Chapter 19 of the City of Tyler Code of Ordinances, administered by the Lake Manager and enforced on the ground by Lake Supervisors. Layered on top, since 18 November 2011, all construction on Lake Tyler leased lots or over the lake waters has also required a building permit issued by the City of Tyler Building Inspection Department, with inspections scheduled through and performed by that department under Chapter 6 of the City Code. The controlling authority for the reservoirs themselves is the City of Tyler Water Utility, PO Box 2039, Tyler, TX 75710, (903) 939-2724.
The second thing to establish is the elevation everything is measured from. Conservation pool is 375 feet msl, and the lake barely moves — about two feet of annual fluctuation, with a recent survey putting it at 375.38. But the number that governs construction is 378 feet msl, three feet above pool. It is unlawful to erect any type of building within 100 feet measured horizontally of elevation 378 msl at the waterfront, with boathouses and piers written in as the express carve-out. That 100-foot band is why the buildable work on these lakes concentrates at the water: boathouses, piers, and retaining walls.
Two specifics are worth naming as open questions rather than answered ones. No published maximum pier length or maximum boathouse square footage could be located for either lake, and whether the City requires a separate permit for bulkheads, seawalls or dredging as distinct from the general building permit is not established in publicly available material. Those get confirmed against the ordinance itself with the Lake Manager before a design commits to a dimension.
Around the Lakes
A mature waterfront serving Tyler, Whitehouse and Arp.
Leasehold lots on the west lake, fee-owned registered lots on the east, and gated development at East Lake Woods.
What the plat drawing must show
- Lot, subdivision and owner
- The building itself
- Full lot dimensions
- The 378 msl elevation line
- The 100-foot setback line
- Existing structures
- Proposed structures
- Septic location and size
Lake Tyler impounds Prairie Creek behind Whitehouse Dam and dates to 1949; Lake Tyler East impounds Mud Creek behind Mud Creek Dam and was impounded in 1966 or early 1967 depending on the source. Both sit in the Neches River Basin in Smith County, and a canal joins the two. TPWD gives Lake Tyler 2,224 acres and Lake Tyler East 2,276 — about 4,500 acres combined, though one source puts the combined figure at 4,714 — with a maximum depth of 40 feet. The water is moderately clear with moderate native vegetation across both lakes; the east lake carries good stands of native vegetation and abundant hydrilla, while the west lake has proportionally less, which has not become problematic, likely because of water level changes and waterfowl grazing. Around the shoreline this is rolling East Texas timber country served by Whitehouse ISD and Tyler ISD. Lake Tyler Marina Resort in Whitehouse offers a marina store, RV park, boat launch, grill and marine gas; Camp Tyler and the Lake Tyler Petroleum Club are long-established institutions on the water. Tyler State Park is nearby but sits on a separate water body — and several subdivision names that come up in searches for this area, including Emerald Bay and Eagles Bluff, belong to Lake Palestine rather than to Lake Tyler.
Scope of Work
What Shoretech can build on Lake Tyler.
On a lake with a hard 100-foot building setback, the waterfront structures are where the work is — and the City checks all of them every year.
Boathouses
One boathouse per residential lot, inside the carve-out that lets it sit within the 100-foot setback band — and built without plumbing, which the City no longer permits in a boathouse on either reservoir.
Piers & docks
Fixed pile-supported piers designed to a pool that moves about two feet a year, so decking can sit tight to the waterline. Dimensions are confirmed against Chapter 19 with the Lake Manager before they are drawn.
Retaining walls & bank work
Retaining walls have a useful privilege here: on Lake Tyler, no buildings or structures other than fences and retaining walls may be erected within 7½ feet of a side property line — the wall is specifically exempted, so bank retention can run the full width of the frontage.
Precision dredging
Slip and access dredging with material pumped for backfill reuse rather than trucked off. Because these are public drinking water supplies, the authorization path is confirmed with the City before any dredge work is scoped.
Three Rules That Change the Design
What makes Lake Tyler different from the lake next door.
None of these are obscure. They are simply not what an owner or a contractor from another East Texas lake expects, and each one changes what gets drawn.
1
Measure from 378, not from the water
The plat drawing has to identify the lot, subdivision, owner and building, and show lot dimensions, the 100-foot setback line taken from the 378-foot elevation line, the exact location of existing and proposed structures relative to all property lines including that setback line, and the location and size of the septic system. Everything keys off a contour three feet above the water — get that wrong and the whole drawing is wrong.
2
Retaining walls are the side-setback exception
On Lake Tyler, no buildings or structures other than fences and retaining walls may be erected within 7½ feet measured horizontally from any side property line. That carve-out matters a great deal for shoreline work: bank retention does not have to stop short of the neighbor's line the way a covered structure does. Houses, separately, must enclose at least 1,000 square feet of floor space.
3
Every structure is inspected annually
All piers and boathouses are inspected each year, in conjunction with the annual on-site sewage facility inspections or as the Lake Manager deems necessary. Combined with the retroactive ban on plumbing in boathouses, that means a meaningful share of the existing stock on these lakes needs modification or replacement to reach current standard — and problems surface on an annual cycle rather than waiting for a sale.
Questions We Hear
Lake Tyler FAQ.
Do I lease my Lake Tyler lot or own it?
It depends which lake you are on. Lots on Lake Tyler, the west lake, are leased from the City. Lots on Lake Tyler East are privately owned but must be registered with the City Clerk. Approval for construction is granted only upon confirmation of a current lease on Lake Tyler lots, or current lot ownership registration with the City Clerk on Lake Tyler East lots — and only after a physical on-site inspection by a Lake Supervisor. Sorting out which side of that line you are on is the first step of any project here.
Where is the setback measured from — the water's edge?
No, and confusing the two is the fastest way to a rejected plat. Conservation pool is 375 feet msl, but setbacks are measured from the 378-foot msl contour, three feet above it. It is unlawful to erect any type of building within 100 feet measured horizontally of elevation 378 msl at the waterfront — with boathouses and piers as the express carve-out. On this lake the regulatory shoreline and the water's edge are simply not the same line.
Can I put a bathroom or a sink in my Lake Tyler boathouse?
No. Both reservoirs are public drinking water supplies, and the City Council tightened the sanitation rules accordingly: plumbing is no longer allowed in boathouses at all, and no sanitary facilities are permitted within 100 feet of the 378-foot msl mark. This one is retroactive in effect, because all piers and boathouses are inspected annually — in conjunction with the annual on-site sewage facility inspections or as the Lake Manager deems necessary — so a non-compliant structure surfaces every year rather than at sale.
How long a pier can I build, and do I need a separate permit for a bulkhead?
Those specifics are worth verifying rather than guessing. No published maximum pier length or maximum boathouse square footage could be located for either lake, and whether the City requires a separate permit for bulkheads, seawalls or dredging as distinct from the general building permit is not established in publicly available material. The lake rules live in Chapter 19 of the City of Tyler Code of Ordinances, administered by the Lake Manager. Shoretech confirms the current provisions against the ordinance itself with the Lake Manager before designing to any number.
Nearby Water
More East Texas lakes.
Start With a Conversation
Planning a project on Lake Tyler?
Tell Dave which lake you are on, whether the lot is leased or registered, and what the existing pier or boathouse looks like at inspection time. The design and the plat drawing follow from that.