[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Council of the Borough
of Somerville: Art. I, 7-19-65 as Ord. No. 613; Art. II, 7-19-65 as Ord. No. 612. Section 155-12 and Section 155-22 amended at time of adoption
of Code; see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I. Other amendments noted
where applicable.]
[Adopted 7-19-65 as Ord. No. 613]
The words, terms and phrases listed below, for the purpose of
this Article, shall be defined as follows:
Includes any above surface type of swimming pool not designed
or intended to be stationary or permanently fixed to the premises
but capable of being removed for storage.
Artificially constructed bathing or swimming pools having
a maximum water depth of fourteen (14) inches or more, and includes
in addition to its common meaning and usage each and every outdoor
natural or man-made pool of water designed, maintained, used or intended
for use as a place in which to swim or to bathe and which can be filled
with water to a depth in excess of fourteen (14) inches; it shall
not mean portable swimming pools.
A.
No owner of land in this borough shall construct, maintain or use
and no such owner shall suffer or permit the construction, maintenance
or use upon said land of an outdoor swimming pool having a maximum
water depth of more than fourteen (14) inches without having first
obtained a permit therefor in the manner hereinafter prescribed.
B.
No lessee and no tenant or other occupier of land in this borough
shall construct, maintain or use and no such lessee, tenant or other
occupier shall suffer or permit the construction, maintenance or use
upon said land of an outdoor swimming pool having a maximum water
depth of more than fourteen (14) inches without having first obtained
a permit therefor in the manner hereinafter prescribed.
C.
An application for a permit for an outdoor swimming pool shall be
accompanied by duplicate sets of plans, specifications and plot plans
of the property. The plot plan shall accurately show the proposed
location on the property and the dimensions of the proposed swimming
pool, any proposed bathhouses, cabanas or other accessory structures
and the proposed method of draining the pool. The plot plan shall
also accurately show the location and dimensions of all buildings
existing on the property, the location, type and height of all existing
fencing or wall on the boundary lines of the property, together with
the type and height of such fencing or enclosure as may be required.
The area of the swimming pool at the perimeter of the outside of the
wall or structure, together with any bathhouses, cabanas or other
accessory structures, shall be considered as lot coverage within the
meaning of the Borough Zoning Ordinance.[1] A fee of three dollars ($3) shall be paid to the Borough
of Somerville for such swimming pool occupancy permit. The above permit
fee shall be exclusive of the permit fee or fees required for the
erection or alteration of the pool or of any accessory structure to
be used in connection with such swimming pool. The Building Inspector
shall promptly refer the plans, specifications and plot plans for
permanent swimming pools to the Borough Engineer and the Health Officer,
and no permit for a permanent private outdoor pool shall be issued
by the Building Inspector until the plans, specifications and plot
plans have been approved by the Borough Engineer and the Health Officer
of the Borough of Somerville and such approvals have been properly
certified on the plans.
All material used in the construction of outdoor swimming pools,
as herein defined, shall be waterproof and easily cleanable, and no
such pool shall have either a sand or earth bottom. Construction and
design of said pools shall be such that same may be maintained and
operated so as to be clean and sanitary at all times. The owners of
every outdoor swimming pool shall be responsible to maintain said
pool in such condition as to prevent breaks in the pool structure
or water from the pool overflowing onto adjacent public or private
property.
There shall be no physical connection between a public or private
potable water supply system and such outdoor swimming pools at a point
less than six (6) inches above the maximum waterline of the pool.
All outdoor swimming pools hereafter constructed within the
Borough of Somerville shall be provided with one (1) drainage outlet
of galvanized iron pipe or approved equal material not in excess of
two (2) inches in diameter extending from said pool to either a brook,
storm sewer (where the Borough Engineer shall determine that such
storm sewer is of adequate capacity), lawn sprinkling system or dry
well on the premises on which said permanent pool is located. The
discharge of water from such permanent outdoor swimming pools into
a brook or storm sewer shall be permitted only following approval
of the proper state, county and borough officials, as each case may
require. No permanent pool drain shall be connected into the borough's
sanitary sewer system, nor shall water therefrom be discharged at
any street curb or upon the surface of any street, without the approval
of the Borough Engineer.
All outdoor swimming pools shall be treated with chlorine or
its compounds in sufficient quantity so that there will be present
in the water at all times when the pool is in use a residual of excess
chlorine of not less than zero and thirty-hundredths (0.30) parts
per million of available free chlorine as determined by the orthotolidine
tests.
A.
The water in any outdoor swimming pool at all times when in use shall
equal the standards as set forth in the latest recommendations of
the American Public Health Association and the New Jersey State Department
of Health. Bacterial standards shall be maintained so that the total
agar plate count of a sample of water taken at either end of an outdoor
swimming pool shall not contain more than two hundred (200) bacteria
per cubic centimeter or shall show positive test (confirmed) for coliform
organisms. For the purpose of this section, any number of samplings
of water on a single day shall be considered as one (1) sample. The
Health Officer or other duly authorized representative of the Board
of Health of the Borough of Somerville is hereby authorized to take
samples to ensure compliance with these requirements.
B.
At all times when the pool is in use, the water shall be sufficiently
clear to permit the entire bottom of the pool to be clearly visible
from the walkway surrounding the pool.
Locker rooms, bathhouses, cabanas, shower rooms, toilets, runways
and all other physical facilities or equipment incident to the operation
of any outdoor swimming pool shall be kept in a sanitary condition
at all times.
No outdoor swimming pool shall be located within any front yard
or side yard area or within any side street setback area required
by the provisions of the Borough of Somerville Zoning Ordinance of
1954, as amended and supplemented,[1] nor nearer than five (5) feet to the rear line nor nearer
than five (5) feet to the interior side lot line of the property on
which such pool is located, nor nearer than ten (10) feet to the dwelling
house on said property. These restrictions on distances from property
lines and dwellings shall apply to the outside of the pool wall, bathhouses,
cabanas and any other structures accessory to the pool. No portion
of an outdoor swimming pool shall be placed within fifteen (15) feet,
measured horizontally, of any overhead electrical conductor.
No artificial lighting shall be maintained or operated in connection
with outdoor swimming pools in such a manner as to be a nuisance or
an annoyance to the occupants of neighboring properties.
Every outdoor swimming pool, as defined herein, constructed
or to be constructed in the Borough of Somerville, shall at all times
comply with the requirements of the Department of Health of the State
of New Jersey and the Board of Health of the Borough of Somerville.
Any nuisance or hazard to health which may exist or develop in or
in consequence of or in connection with any such swimming pool shall
be abated and removed by the owner, lessee or occupant of the premises
on which the pool is located within ten (10) days after receipt of
notice from the Building Inspector, Borough Engineer, Health Officer
or other duly authorized representative of the Board of Health of
the Borough of Somerville or member of the police force of said borough.
Any person, corporation or other organization who shall violate
or cause to be violated any of the provisions of this Article shall,
upon conviction thereof, be subject to a fine not exceeding five hundred
dollars ($500) or imprisonment for a term not to exceed ninety (90
days, or both. Each day that such violation continues beyond the date
specified in the violation notice shall constitute a separate offense.
[Adopted 7-19-65 as Ord. No. 612]
A.
No owner of land in this borough shall construct, maintain or use
and no such owner shall suffer or permit the construction, maintenance
or use of an unfenced swimming pool.
B.
No lessee and no tenant or other occupier of land in this borough
shall construct, maintain or use and no such lessee, tenant or other
occupier shall suffer or permit the construction, maintenance or use
of an unfenced swimming pool.
A.
No swimming pool shall be considered an unfenced swimming pool within the meaning of § 155-13 of this Article when the swimming pool is completely surrounded by a fence or by a combination of a fence and some other form of barrier or by some other form of barrier which is reasonably designed to keep out infants and children under five (5) years of age.
B.
Any of the following or any combination of the following having an
outside height of at least four (4) feet and gates of equal height
equipped with self-closing and self-latching devices maintained in
good working order and which can only be unlatched from the inside
or swimming pool side of the gate shall satisfy the design requirements
hereof:
(1)
A Du Bois fence.
(2)
A solid board fence.
(3)
A picket fence with a four-inch-maximum space or interval between
the pickets or vertical boards forming the fence.
(4)
A brick, concrete, masonry, cinder block, cement block, stone in
cement or dry stone or vertical wall.
(5)
A chain link fence.
(6)
Any vertical portion of a building having no unprotected openings
such as unscreened windows or doors which are not equipped with self-closing
and self-latching devices maintained in good working order and which
may be unlatched from the side away from the pool by a latch which
is within five (5) feet of the floor or doorsill.
(7)
Any type of vertical wall, fence or other structure which presents
a reasonably smooth outside surface and contains no openings large
enough to pass a ball or sphere five (5) inches in diameter.
C.
In addition to the foregoing listed in Subsection B above, the following shall satisfy the design requirements hereof:
(1)
The outside wall of a raised pool or a pool built above or extending
above the surface of the ground where the outside wall is vertical
or nearly vertical and extends at least four (4) feet above the ground
at all points along its perimeter.
D.
The following shall satisfy the design requirements hereof for all
swimming pools except permanently constructed belowground pools:
(1)
A fox wire or other wire fence not less than four (4) feet in height
with reasonably spaced and firm supports, which wire shall contain
no openings large enough to pass a ball or sphere five (5) inches
in diameter.
(2)
A pool cover or guard containing no openings large enough to pass
a ball or sphere five (5) inches in diameter, over the entire surface
of the pool, adjusted to the top of the pool or to the normal elevation
of the surface of the water in the pool, measured when full, which
will support a weight of at least seventy-five (75) pounds when in
place, and kept in place when the use of the pool is not under the
supervision of a person who is a good swimmer and is at least seventeen
(17) years of age.
E.
Any type of vertical or horizontal barrier, pool cover or guard not
hereinabove described that shall be approved by the Building Code
Board of Appeals by resolution, if constructed, maintained and used
pursuant to any stipulations that the Building Code Board of Appeals
shall impose, shall satisfy the design requirements hereof.
Any person denied a building permit on the ground that plans
and specifications for the work or for the alteration work described
in the application for a building permit do not comply with the requirements
of this Article may appeal such decision to the Building Code Board
of Appeals under the provisions of the Building Code.[1]
The Building Inspector shall have power to review building permit applications for work to construct or alter swimming pools and to issue a building permit therefor where the Building Inspector is satisfied that the proposed method of protecting infants and children under five (5) years of age from falling into the pool and drowning is adequately designed to furnish the necessary protection at all times. In considering such proposals, the Building Inspector shall keep in mind the reliability and dependability of automatic devices under all circumstances and shall not approve proposals which are undependable or unreliable or require constant maintenance or depend upon a constant supply of electric power. Likewise, the Building Inspector shall keep in mind the propensities and capabilities of children under five (5) years of age and the attraction that swimming pools and water have for such children. The standards of § 155-14 of this Article shall be used as general guidelines governing the extent of protection to be required by use of equivalent means or methods not covered by this Article. In considering such proposals, the Building Inspector shall not give any weight to any argument advanced by the applicant to the effect that the applicant allows no children to come upon his land and that therefore the applicant should not be required to expend money for the purpose of protecting trespassing children from the danger of falling into the pool and drowning. It is the intent and purpose of this Article to compel the erection, construction or installation of fences or other forms of barriers reasonably designed to protect all children and especially infants and children under five (5) years of age from the danger of falling into a swimming pool built for recreation and amusement and from drowning, without regard to whether such children may be considered trespassers, licensees or invited guests.
The following shall not be considered a swimming pool under
this Article notwithstanding the possibility that all or any of the
hereinafter named may occasionally or regularly be used for bathing
or swimming, and the hereinafter named are expressly exempted from
this Article:
A.
Any and all indoor swimming pools.
B.
Any and all rivers, streams, relocated streams, lakes, natural pounds
and/or other natural waterways.
C.
Any and all man-made lakes and ponds having a normal water surface
area of more than one-half (1/2) of an acre.
D.
Any and all man-made drainage ditches, millraces and other similar
waterways.
E.
Any and all man-made fishponds having a maximum water depth of not
more than fourteen (14) inches.
F.
Any and all wading pools having a maximum water depth of not more
than fourteen (14) inches.
No person shall prop open a swimming pool gate or tamper with
any self-closing and self-latching device on a swimming pool gate,
and no person shall tie down or tamper with any self-retracting ladder
or stairway leading to a raised swimming pool.
No person shall place and leave unattended any ladder or other
climbing device against any swimming pool fence, wall or barrier.
Where the provisions of the Building Code apply to the construction
or alteration of a swimming pool, the fee to be charged therefor shall
be in accordance with the provisions of said Building Code,[1] but this Article shall not be considered in other cases
to require a building permit fee; this Article shall not, however,
relieve one from the responsibility of complying with other pool standards
and requirements as may be prescribed by ordinances heretofore or
hereafter adopted by the Borough of Somerville.
Any person who shall violate any provision of this Article and
who shall fail to comply with any violation notice shall, upon conviction
thereof, be subject to a penalty of not more than five hundred dollars
($500) or imprisonment for not more than ninety (90) days, or both.
Each day that such violation continues beyond the date specified in
the violation notice shall constitute a separate offense.
