Council Passes Swimming Pool-Fence Ordinance

Home buyers beware: The Franklin Lakes Borough Council has passed a new law requiring fencing around all pools in town. Previously pools built prior to 1977 were grandfathered exceptions to the New Jersey Uniform Construction Code. 

After several months of discussion and public hearings, on May 17 the governing body voted unanimously in favor of the ordinance, which requires a 4-foot safety fence to be built on the property surrounding the pool. The law goes into effect within six months of the sale of the home. 

"I'm sensitive to the issues with the government getting involved in the public's business, but there needs to be a fair balance," Councilman William Smith said at the meeting. "This was not an easy decision to come to, but it's an ordinance I'd vote for." 

Over the past few months, several residents spoke out against the ordinance, which was tabled at the April 20 council meeting. Opposition to the ordinance centered around the cost of the fencing and a question over a need for the law. 

To ease the financial burden on the senior residents who spoke out against the ordinance, the council included the trigger incident of within six months of the sale of the home. A maximum $200 a day fine will be levied for noncompliance. 

Still the many homeowners affected complain the cost will come off the the sale price of the home. Resident Demetrios Stratis, an attorney whose father's pool is affected by the new law, also questioned the legality of the ordinance, calling it unfairly prejudicial against senior citizens. 

"Since the proposed ordinance targets pools built before 1977, it inherently and unfairly prejudices a specific class of citizens—our elderly, who are the backbone of our community and negatively impacts their property values which have already dropped significantly and in many cases represent their only form of retirement income," he told Patch. "Moreover, there is no real and imminent danger which warrants affecting property rights by removing the grandfather clause and overriding the comprehensive State Uniform Commercial Code which already protects against these hypothetical harms."   

In addition, several residents who spoke during the public hearings questioned the need for the law, and noted the many lakes and ponds in town pose a greater safety threat than private pools. 

"The lakes are much more of a potential safety hazard than the pools are to children, Lauretta Brown, a 33-year resident of Franklin Lakes, who lives across from Upper Lake told Patch after the ordinance was tabled in April. "Kids are always playing around the lakes—riding their bikes on them in the winter—and the lake is deep. ... In all the time we have lived here, I have never seen kids come onto private property for a pool. The lakes are another story."

Forty-plus year resident Juliana Mazzucco  whose pool was built in the early 1970s cited both the cost and the validity of the safety concerns as objections to the ordinance. "If you're talking about safety, include the lakes and ponds in the ordinance," she said, adding, "My whole livelihood is in that house." 

To the residents concerned that the ordinance would cost them money in the future, as their homes might lose value as the years pass, Councilman Charles Kahwati said, "At that juncture in the future, hopefully there will be a pot of gold that you can draw from." 

The average home in Franklin Lakes is valued at just above $1 million. 

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Going Out for Bond

The council approved  the other two items on the agenda: an ordinance to bond $642,000 for a variety of needs and an amendment to the salary ordinance to pay the Insurance Commissioner $300. The bond will purchase a large mower and dump truck for the DPW, computer file server for the police department, hose replacement and turnout gear for the fire department, and a  diesel exhaust system for the ambulance corps in addition to funding the 2011 road repair program and an investigation into the underground storage tank at the ambulance corps building.