Fencing off a pool

Q. We’re putting in a pool this summer, and the permits are taking a lot longer than we were told they would. Now we’re being held up by a problem with fences. We share a fence with the neighbors and even paid for it with them. The Building Department is saying we have to put up another fence on our property line and confirm that the good side is facing the neighbors. But that doesn’t make sense. There’s already a fence there. Why are they doing this to us? This is crazy.

A. Crazy, but I’ve asked about this and the answer is understandable, though remote. It seems that people can’t be trusted by government officials to always, and I emphasize the word “always,” do the right thing. The double fence issue has to do with the what-if scenario: What if the neighbors disagree (which has happened) and/or they just decide to take down the fence, leaving a yard exposed to an unsafe condition if a toddler gets into the yard and into the pool? Apparently, this has happened. Or if it hasn’t, we all cringe at the thought of losing children every summer to a preventable condition when the child gained access to a pool.

Government does a lot of things that the “free” American public protests. Safety is paramount in the eyes of public officials charged with enforcing building codes. It isn’t always fair, and usually is pretty expensive, to follow all the rules. Simple logic in what we do and freedoms should be our continuous goal as citizens, but some people ruin it for everybody. People protested the use of traffic lights, seat belts, cigarette smoking in public places … the list is long.