By Monter Leeper
A.
A good fence is very critical to pool use, so consider the reasons for having such a fence. It keep people and animals as well as debris out of your pool. You have a serious responsibility for safety when you own a pool. Self-closing gates and fences that cannot be scaled easily are one way the code prevents those who are most vulnerable from wandering into a pool and drowning. Every year we read about young children drowning in pools. This is the reason for having an enforceable code. Further, the codes are specific regarding the types of fences allowed. Chain-link and stockade are the two acceptable types. A split-rail fence may not even keep out a 2-year-old calf, much less a 2-year-old child.
While a fence in a rear yard is allowed to be 6 feet tall, the fence around a pool need only be 5 feet tall. The pool must be no closer than 4 feet to a property, line and is required to be located completely within a rear yard.
Corner lots like yours technically have two front yards, one side yard and one rear yard. Each front yard on a corner lot is to be 25 feet from the front property line. To determine the rear yard, you should be able to look at a survey diagram and see that one remaining yard is usually smaller than the other. The deeper of the two yards is often considered to be the rear yard, but not always. You may find, when investigating old records of your property's approvals, that the town allowed one yard to be identified as the rear yard instead of the more obvious one. Not in every case, but in some instances, so it's worth checking to be sure.
Along a front or side property line (and not your rear yard line), a 4-foot-tall fence is the maximum allowed. (The jurisdiction in the Town of Hempstead that enforces the rules for fences is the Building Department.) A 3-foot-tall fence is too short around a pool. A separate area should be designated, with the proper zoning-regulated pool area (rear yard) for a 5-foot-high fence, so you'll need a separate fence and a permit. You'll also need to apply for a pool permit, even for an above-ground pool. Good luck!
Readers are encouraged to send questions to: HERALD Homes, 379 Central Avenue, P.O. Box 220, Lawrence, N.Y. 11559-0220Attn: Monte Leeper, architect.
