Inground pools in Bath, Ohio

Bath is an unincorporated township of about 10,000 people spread over roughly 22 square miles between Akron, Fairlawn and the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Hale Farm and Village sits inside the park on the township's side, and the 404 acre Bath Nature Preserve, which the University of Akron uses for field research, takes up another piece. Most kids here go to Revere schools, with some parts of the township in the Copley-Fairlawn district.

The zoning map explains why so many Bath pool jobs feel roomy. R-1 requires 5 acres per home, R-2 needs 2.5 acres and R-3 needs 1 acre, each with a 60 foot front setback and 50 foot rear yard. Only R-4 drops to about a quarter acre (10,890 square feet). On a one or two acre lot the pool rarely fights for space. What it fights is slope, trees and, on the edges of the township, septic fields and wells.

We checked the USDA soil survey at several points across the township. Rittman silt loam came up most, with Fitchville on the flatter ground, Ellsworth on the eroded valley sides and Lobdell along the creek bottoms. Rittman formed in glacial till and has a fragipan, a dense layer that water moves through slowly. The USDA puts its perched seasonal water table 10 to 27 inches below the surface from November to April in normal years.

In practice that means a spring dig in Bath can take on water well above the floor of the pool. We plan for pumping and for a way to relieve pressure under the shell, and we price dewatering as a line item when the site calls for it instead of acting surprised later. Summit County builds footings to a 38 inch frost line, so decks, walls and steps around the pool get built for that depth.

Bath treats hillsides seriously, and pool owners on the valley side of the township should know how. The zoning resolution calls any area with a slope of 18 percent or more over 50 feet of run a steep slope area, and 30 percent or more a severe slope area. Structures need a 50 foot setback from the edge of a steep slope area. Severe slopes cannot be disturbed at all, and buildings and structures stay 100 feet back from them.

There is more. Finished grades in disturbed areas cannot be steeper than three to one, and the code says retaining walls should be avoided and used only when the owner shows they are necessary. Nobody can cut or fill the ground to change it before zoning approval. For the pool application itself, any lot with slopes over 12 percent needs a two foot contour overlay that extends at least 100 feet past the lot lines.

So on a sloped Bath lot, we look for the flattest workable pad first and design the deck and grading to follow the land. A walkout pool with a tall wall on the downhill side might be the obvious design elsewhere. Here it can run straight into the retaining wall rule, and we would rather find that out on the 3D drawing than at the zoning counter.

Pools go through Bath Township Zoning, 3864 West Bath Road, on the township's Swimming Pool Application, and in-ground pools must be filed with a fence application at the same time. Section 701-D(18) of the zoning resolution sets the rules:

• Any pool holding more than 1.5 feet of water counts as an accessory structure.
• In residential districts the pool must be at least 20 feet from all lot lines and 10 feet from the house, and it goes in a side or rear yard. Corner lots have to meet the front setback on both streets.
• The pool must be completely surrounded by a fence or wall at least 4 feet high with no gap over 4 inches, and gates or doors need locking devices. An accessory building can form part of the enclosure.
• On lots of 1.5 acres or more, a pool cover system that meets ASTM F1346 can replace the fence. It has to be fully working and kept locked and closed whenever the pool is not in use.
• Construction, plumbing and electrical work fall under county codes.

The application asks for a site plan showing all setbacks, easements, the septic system and well if there are any, riparian setbacks along streams, and any ponds, wetlands or ravines. You also need either the Summit County health department's approval of the sewage system or a sewer connection permit from county environmental services. Ohio law gives the township up to 30 days to review, and a zoning certificate expires if work has not started within a year. The township also points out that deed restrictions can be stricter than its zoning, so check your deed or your association's covenants before we design. For building and electrical permits, Bath directs owners to the Summit County Building Standards.

That cover option is the most Bath-specific decision on this page. On a larger lot, a 4 foot fence around the pool can cut a lawn in half and block the view you bought the property for. An automatic safety cover rated to ASTM F1346 keeps the pool closed off without the fence line, and it holds heat overnight and keeps leaves out, which on a wooded Bath lot is not a small thing.

It is not free, and it only counts if it is closed and locked every time. Families with young kids sometimes choose both. We lay out the fence version and the cover version side by side in the 3D design so you can see each one on your lot before you choose.

On acreage we get asked about bigger pools, and our larger Liberty fiberglass shells, the 16 foot wide Devotion, Heavenly and Virtuous models, fit Bath lots better than they fit most suburbs. A one-piece fiberglass shell also suits Rittman ground well because there are no liner seams or plaster for a wet, freezing site to work on. Owners who want a free-form shape often pick an ICF concrete pool, whose insulated walls help hold heat on shaded lots. Vinyl liner pools from Latham remain an option for a custom size at a lower starting cost.

For planning, our fiberglass packages start at $68,400 installed and include the Pentair pump, DE filter, a pool heater, LED lights and a 4 foot concrete deck. On a Bath lot the usual additions are the barrier (fence or safety cover), more patio, grading and drainage on sloped ground, dewatering, hauling off spoils and the electrical run from your panel out to the equipment, which can be long on a big lot. We price each of those after the site visit, and we work with lenders if you want to finance.

From Ravenna we come across on Route 18 and I-77, so Bath is an easy trip for site visits and inspections. We also build in Richfield, Fairlawn, Copley, Brecksville and Cuyahoga Falls, and the same crew and planning come with every job.