NEWPORT BEACH : Ordinance on Pool Fencing Is Studied

The City Council took up the issue of extra fencing around swimming pools at a study session Monday, but decided to delay action on a proposed ordinance until a county committee finalizes its policy.

The fencing proposal has arisen because of concerns over pool safety and the frequency of child drownings in Orange County. Local pool safety advocate Jim Landis, whose son nearly drowned in a pool accident last year, asked the council to keep an open mind about the proposal and to consider the issue a matter of public safety.

“For those of you who indicate that it is a matter of private concern, please remember that many of the kids who don’t die in these pools end up in state hospitals . . . ,” Landis said. “All we’re trying to do is protect the children. There have been two deaths this year in Newport Beach alone.”

In September, the International Conference of Building Officials met and drew up a model ordinance for cities and states interested in adopting safety measures for residential pools. The policy would require four sides of fencing around all pools. Where the house is used as the fourth side, then the ordinance would require doors that close and lock automatically, as well as door alarms.

Among the questions still to be addressed by any policy are whether the ordinance should apply to all homes or just newly installed pools, and whether residents without children would be exempt from the restrictions.

Councilman Clarence J. Turner said the city should adopt such an ordinance. “It seems to me that this is a problem that cries out for addressing,” he said. “We’ve had a plethora of deaths from infants falling into pools.”

Councilman John Hedges disagreed, saying it was out of the council’s jurisdiction to address private safety issues.

The recently formed county committee includes representatives from the county, Irvine, Costa Mesa, Newport Beach, the National Swimming Pool and Spa Institute; and Landis, who has formed a local group called the Children’s Pool Safety Assn.