Subject:
Title
7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. Proposed Edits to Section 18-407 Swimming Pools and Outdoor Hot TUBS
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BACKGROUND SUMMARY:
On January 27, 2025, the Town Council held a public hearing on, and then discussed, the first set of amendments to the Zoning and Subdivision Ordinance since the adoption of the new code in October 2023 (which became effective on January 1, 2024). At the end of that January 2025 discussion, the Town Council directed the Town Clerk to advertise a Notice of Intent to Adopt all items except for one; and the Town Council subsequently adopted those items on February 24, 2025.
The one item that the Town Council did not adopt related to proposed revisions to Section 18-407, Swimming Pools and Outdoor Hot Tubs. The Town Council did not reject the amendment; instead, the Town Council asked that staff return with a better explanation of the current problem and how the proposed code amendments would address the problem.
OVERVIEW:
In the current code, there are requirements that, on many lots, result in unintended restrictions on the locations where homeowners may place swimming pools. The unintended restrictions stem from a combination of an older zoning approach. That older approach establishes limits on the permitted locations of accessory structures and swimming pools in relation to the locations of houses in adjacent properties. For example, the current code requires that a homeowner who wishes to install a swimming pool must do so further back than the rear of any adjacent home.
This result probably made sense when the Town's post-war subdivisions were built and the houses in a single block were all generally in the same location. In the current environment, with much larger redeveloped homes and with additions on the backs of other homes, neighboring lots can force a swimming pool to be much further back on a lot than a homeowner would desire. On a corner lot, the restrictions from neighboring lots can result in extremely small areas ...
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