Covers vs. fences for pools

MOUNT PLEASANT — Residents concerned about aesthetics have asked Town Council to allow them to take down safety fences and substitute locked pool covers to keep children from falling in and drowning.

As a result, council is considering changing its rule requiring the fences. Councilman Gary Santos said the proposed change increases the risk that kids who can't swim will be alone in a pool. "I spoke out against it, and I thought it was wrong because of the safety issue. I think this is a critical issue."

Currently, the town requires a 4-foot-tall fence with an automatic-latching gate around a swimming pool. Some pool owners asked if there wasn't a more attractive alternative, prompting council to consider the issue and vote for preliminary approval of the change allowing pool covers instead of fences.

"A lot of people have told me, 'I don't want it (fence) because it will block my view of the creek,' " said Lee Cave, the town division chief of building inspections. "It gives them an option of not having to have an unsightly fence."

The change in rules governing swimming pool safety would bring the town in line with state law on the issue. Instead of a fence, a pool owner could install a mechanically operated, locking safety cover that meets accepted standards, Cave said.

"You can physically walk over the things. When it's closed, it provides absolute protection. There's no way to get in the pool. It leaves it up to the homeowner to secure the pool," he said.

Santos said that because it's left up to owners to cover the pool, the new approach to swimming-pool safety is flawed. "How many people are going to cover the pool when they get out after swimming?" he said.

Florida's Residential Swimming Pool Safety Act allows homeowners the option of installing a fence, a pool cover, automatically closing and locking devices on all entrances to the pool area or alarms on all doors and windows providing direct access from the home to the pool.

Town Council members Billy Swails, Joe Bustos and Santos are campaigning to be elected mayor in November. Swails and Bustos said they saw no problem with changing the rule to allow pool covers instead of fences.

Swails said the town faces more critical problems than the pool fence issue. "I'm not on the pool issue. I'm on the daily issues that matter to Mount Pleasant."

Bustos noted that a rule change allowing pool covers instead of fences would be done according to state code. "I think it's a matter of personal preference at this point."

Final approval of the pool fence rule change could be on the agenda for the Council meeting Aug. 11.

Children younger than 1 most often drown in bathtubs, buckets or toilets. For kids between 1 and 4 years old, most drownings occur in residential swimming pools.

Most young children who drown in pools were last seen in the home, had been out of sight less than five minutes and were in the care of one or both parents at the time, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Reach Prentiss Findlay at 937-5711 or pfindlay@postandcourier.com.