Sheldon, Iowa — Summer hasn’t officially arrived here in northwest Iowa, but residential swimming pools are, to quote Sheldon City Manager Sam Kooiker, “popping up everywhere.”
And if you’re planning to put a swimming pool in your yard, Kooiker says the Sheldon City Zoning Code requires you to put a fence around it.
(As above) “The City Zoning Code, adopted ten years ago, does include rules regarding pool fencing. Fences of at least four feet in height are required around a swimming pool, or the yard that the pool is in, if the pool is greater than three feet in depth.”
Kooiker says that code was the topic of conversation at Wednesday’s meeting of the Planning & Zoning Commission.
(As above) “I recommended a grace period for the summer of 2020, based on the reasoning that many people are unaware of this rule, and the ordinance doesn’t distinguish between temporary and permanent pools, (and) also doesn’t give leeway for a cover versus a fence, and there’s some other issues as well.”
He says the commission agreed.
(As above) “The Planning Commission agreed that we should continue to get the word out on how important it is to have safety, and how important it is to comply with the code. We are exercising a great deal of discretion this year with enforcement because we do not want to surprise people, but we also want them to be safe.”
Kooiker says currently the City is working on getting the word out about the zoning ordinance.
(As above) “It is important for people to know that this is a code, and that if something should happen, too, it creates a liability for them. So we’re working on getting the word out on this. We’ve had three pools come to our attention that were not in compliance, and in all three cases I reached out to the landowners involved and asked them to please remove the ladder, attempt to cover the pool when it’s not being used and, if at all possible, to move it into a fenced area and then have a fence next year.”
Kooiker admits that the ordinance, as written, is somewhat confusing.
(As above) “The Planning Commission has requested that research be done on the options for making the ordinance cleaner and easier to understand, and that is something that we’re working on.”
While the zoning ordinance doesn’t specifically say that pools can’t be placed in someone’s front yard, it does require a fence at least 4-feet in height surrounding a pool, while at the same time setting 3-feet as the maximum allowable height for a fence surrounding your front yard.
