St. Charles City Council members approved an amendment to the city’s building code requiring residents installing a pool on their property to have fences around the pool’s perimeter.
Before the amendment, which passed unanimously at the council’s July 22 meeting, St. Charles residents were required to have either a safety cover or a fence. Residents now will be required to have both.
Pools already permitted by the city are exempt from the fence requirement, but must maintain all safety barriers that were required when the permit was granted. Any pool permits issued by the city after July 22 must comply with the new fence requirement.
The option of a safety cover as the sole barrier for in‐ground pools dates to 2016, when St. Charles adopted the 2015 set of International Codes. Safety covers are required to completely restrict access to pools and support 458 pounds of weight, according to international code standards. The new amendment effectively reinstates a requirement that existed in the city code before 2016.
Staff began looking into changing the city code after St. Charles resident Kimberly Basich spoke during the public comment at a June 17 City Council meeting detailing her concerns over the city’s pool safety requirements.
Basich said drowning was the leading cause of accidental death of children ages 1 to 4 and cited the drowning of a 3-year-old last year in a neighborhood adjacent to hers, which she said was “almost 100% preventable” if enhanced safety measures had been implemented.
Basich was concerned for her children’s safety because one of her neighbors is planning to install a pool without a fence and Basich asked council members to change the city code to require a fence as well as a safety cover.
“Our children need you to help them to stay safe from the No. 1 cause of death, which is accidental drowning, and requiring a fence in our village would help to mitigate the chance of another child dying from accidental drowning,” Basich said.
At a July 8 Planning and Development Committee meeting, St. Charles resident Scott Weiss, Basich’s neighbor, expressed his concerns over the possible change. Weiss is installing a pool on his property and his neighborhood homeowners association rules do not allow a perimeter fence.
After discussion between Weiss, committee members and Basich, committee members unanimously recommended approval of an amendment to the city code that would require both a fence and a safety cover.