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City looks to tighten pool fence standard: Second in a series

After inadvertently repealing the requirement for a 4-foot fence between homes and backyard swimming pools last year, the city is preparing to reinstate that law. In the seven months since the law changed, city officials estimate about 55 pools have been built without the safety fences. Assistant Fire Chief Randy Ogden said allowing one such pool is "one too many." And 55 of them is "that much more of a concern" in a city that typically suffers two to four drownings and 11 to 14 near-drownings each year. What happened on Sept. 7, when the City Council updated its building code, is that "no one caught" the fact the new code didn't require a fence between the house and pool, said city Building Codes Administrator David Mann. Instead, it called for safety latches 54 inches above the floor on home exits leading to backyard pools, which is also what Pima County requires for homes in unincorporated areas. Ogden said substituting door latches for a fence was a concern for his department, which responds to drownings. The high-level latches could prevent kids from using those doors to get out of the home in an emergency. Door latches also don't put a barrier between the pool and backyard play areas the way a fence does, he said. Mann said 222 pool building permits have been issued since the law changed. He said exact numbers aren't available, but he estimated 25 percent of those homeowners opted not to include a fence. The City Council will be asked to restore the fence requirement at its Tuesday night meeting. A second proposal would have required pool drains to automatically shut off if hair or a body part got trapped in them. However, that one has been postponed because of complaints the city's proposed regulations favored one manufacturer, as well as claims the devices are unreliable. Pool and home builders aren't objecting to restoring the fence requirement, aimed at keeping untended youngsters out of harm's way. Glenn Cook of Blue Haven Pools said many of his customers don't like the fence requirement for aesthetic reasons, more than for the $1,200 to $1,500 cost. A lot of customers consider them eyesores, he said. Previously, before the city dropped the barrier fence requirement, there were times when his workers "put in the fence because they had to, then the customers took them down as soon as the pool passed inspection." But Cook isn't fighting the requirement because it's becoming the national standard for building codes. So he figures Pima County, Marana and Oro Valley will eventually adopt a similar requirement. Lori Lustig of the Southern Arizona Home Builders Association said builders consider the barrier fence a reasonable safety precaution that's easy to include when the pool is going in. But the builders complain the slip-up has resulted in the city imposing even tougher standards for another required fence, one surrounding the yard to keep outsiders out. Adding a foot to the height of the perimeter fence could become a hardship for owners of existing homes who want to put in a pool, they say. At one time the city required just a 4-foot fence around yards with pools. In 2001 the state mandated a 5-foot fence around yards with pools but allowed cities and counties with pre-existing pool codes to keep their own standards. Once the city dropped its pool code, any new regulations had to comply with the state law, Ogden said; thus the 5-foot height requirement. Lustig said the 5-foot requirement isn't a problem for new homes and developments because builders can just make that their new standard. But for existing homes, in addition to the cost of adding a foot to an existing wall or fence, she said there is the problem that some homeowner association rules limit fence heights to 4 feet, or prohibit fences of differing heights. "It isn't a huge group that's affected," she said. "But with homeowner associations, you know how difficult it can be." Exactly when and why the higher fence requirement kicked in, however, is a point of contention. Home and pool builders contend the 5-foot perimeter fence height is a product of the new regulations. But Mann said the builders have got it wrong because the fence height was actually increased to 5 feet in 2003. Before that the city had a separate pool code, which set the fence height at 4 feet, he said. The city scrapped the separate pool code and made those regulations part of the overall building code. When that happened, Mann said, the city attorney ruled Tucson had to comply with the 5-foot state standard. Alma Andrew, who's had a pool at her East Side home for 35 years, just had a fence installed between the pool and home two weeks ago. She believes the city is doing the right thing. After having to be on constant vigil as generations of children and grandchildren swam in the pool, Andrew said the fence gives her a tremendous amount of peace of mind when she's watching her four great-grandchildren. "The last two weeks have been real great because this one's real active," she said, talking about her 2-year-old great-granddaughter. She can now go out and play in the yard, even if no one is free to stand watch, which is what Andrew had to do previously. Andrew said she wanted a fence before but couldn't afford one until she was contacted by Home Depot, which was looking for a lower-income pool owner who would let it install a fence to teach its workers how to do it correctly. Above-ground pools also have to comply with the fencing requirement. But there is an exception allowing them to leave out the barrier fence if they have a special fold-up safety ladder that prevents smaller children from getting into the pool too easily.