[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:
PORTABLE SWIMMING POOL
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.
SWIMMING POOL
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.
[1]
Editor's Note: See Ch. 175, Zoning.
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.
[1]
Editor's Note: The Zoning Ordinance of 1954 was amended and supplemented 12-6-71 by Ord. No. 703; see Ch. 175, Zoning.
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.
[1]
Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code; see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I.
[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.
F. 
When any self-operating or automatic device used to secure gates, doors or other means of access to the pool is not in good working order, the pool shall be considered an unfenced swimming pool within the meaning of § 155-13 of this Article.
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]
[1]
Editor's Note: See Ch. 56, Building Construction.
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.
G. 
Any and all aboveground inflated plastic wading pools and other aboveground wading pools of similar flexible sidewall construction having a maximum water depth of not more than fourteen (14) inches.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Original Section 7, defining, "swimming pool," of Ord. No. 612, which section immediately followed this section, was deleted at time of adoption of Code; see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I. For current definition of "swimming pool," see § 155-1.
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.
[1]
Editor's Note: See Ch. 56, Building Construction.
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.
[1]
Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code; see Ch. 1, General Provision, Art. I.