[HISTORY: Adopted by the governing body of
the Township of Little Falls 12-18-1995 by Ord. No. 753 as Ch. XXIII
of the 1995 Revised General Ordinances; amended in its entirety 7-22-2019 by Ord. No. 1365. Subsequent amendments noted where applicable.]
No person shall construct, maintain or operate within the Township
any private, open, permanently installed swimming pool except in accordance
with the provisions of this chapter.
A.Â
An application for a zoning and construction permit to construct
a private, permanent or above ground swimming pool shall be made to
the Construction Official and shall include final plans, specifications
and reports as may be required including the following:
(1)Â
A property survey not more than 20 years old, and a detailed plot
plan of the entire property showing existing buildings and the proposed
pool drawn to scale, with pertinent dimensions and grade elevations
shown in figures at pool, building and property lines. The plot plan
shall be signed by the owner or his agent or a duly licensed engineer
or registered architect or land surveyor of New Jersey.
(2)Â
Pool layout, construction and dimensions including piping arrangement
pumps and all other pool appurtenances.
(3)Â
Details of disposal facilities for filtering wastewater and provisions
for emptying of pool.
B.Â
Specifications for construction of the pool shall accompany all detailed
plans and final as built and report shall be submitted upon completion
of the project to the Construction Official.
Upon compliance with all provisions of this chapter and upon
approval by the Construction Official of the final plans, specifications
and reports together with the data contained therein, a permit shall
be issued for the location and construction so requested upon payment
of a fee as required by the Building Code of the Township.[1]
An open, permanent type of swimming pool shall not be located
and constructed or altered by any person until a building permit for
the pool shall be issued by the Construction Official and shall be
subject to the following provisions:
A.Â
Conformity with zoning. A swimming pool is a structure to be constructed
in accordance with the terms below.
(1)Â
Location and area. The swimming pool shall not be closer than 10
feet to any side or rear lot lines of the property and shall not be
closer than 15 feet to any principal building; provided, however,
that no part of any pool shall be constructed within the front yard.
Pools shall be constructed in rear yards only, and the water surface
shall not exceed 15% of the total area of the rear yard. In the case
of corner lots, the pool shall be located in a side yard area set
back a minimum of 1.5 times the required front yard setback for the
zoning district in which it is located, screened from view from the
street, and its water surface shall not exceed 15% of the total area
of the lot. The pool shall be calculated in the lot coverage calculation.
Prior to receiving the certificate of occupancy an as built plan shall
be submitted to the Construction Official showing compliance with
the setback calculations and the lot coverage calculation. The Construction
Official may at his discretion inspect for compliance with the as
built plan presented.
B.Â
Fence required; exceptions. The exposed sides of a permanently installed swimming pools shall be completely enclosed by a fence of not less than 36 inches in height of durable construction with openings of no greater than six inches and having at least one gate. The type of proposed fence must be included in the application for the permit as provided in § 231-2. The gate or gates shall remain securely locked at all times when the pool is not being used. Nothing herein contained shall apply to permanently installed pools built above ground level to a height of at least 36 inches.
C.Â
Use of pool. Use of the pool is for a single private family and the
owner's social guest.
D.Â
Permanent construction required. The pool must be of permanent-type
construction. Uncovered sand or earth bottoms shall not be permitted.
E.Â
Drainage. The immediate area surrounding the pool shall be designed
to slope away from the pool so that all surface water will drain away
from the pool.
F.Â
Ladder required. From any nonpermanent installed pool needing a ladder
for the use thereof, the ladder shall be removed when the pool is
not in use.
G.Â
Bathhouse. A bathhouse is not required. Any such construction including screened enclosure must conform to accessory building construction as defined and governed by Chapter 280, Zoning.
H.Â
Floodlights. No floodlight or lights shall be maintained in such
a manner that the source of light is visible from a public street
or neighboring property.
I.Â
Covering. The governing body recommends that at all times when a
portable pool is not in use, the pool be covered by a cover of either
canvas, plastic, rubber or other similar material permanently secured
to the sides of the pool.
All permanently installed swimming pools and portable swimming
pools shall be registered with the Township Clerk without fee, and
the Police Department shall be authorized to make periodic inspections
of the location of the pools and to enforce the terms of this chapter.
The Health Officers of the Township may inspect the pool area periodically
at reasonable times.
Nothing herein shall apply to a wading pool and all pools below
the height of 12 inches shall be considered wading pools.
