Inground pools in Boardman, Ohio

Boardman sits just south of Youngstown, and some of its older plats have very narrow lots. A 2022 zoning hearing notice, for example, describes a 50 by 140 foot lot on Boardman Boulevard where the owner asked to cut the pool's side setback from 10 feet to 5. Newer subdivisions toward the edges of the township have more room. On a 50 foot lot, two 10 foot setbacks leave 30 feet of width for the pool, the deck and a path to the gate, and that is before the equipment pad.

The township also has an unusual amount of green space for a suburb. Boardman Park covers 227 acres on U.S. 224, and 167 of them are kept as natural habitat. The township describes that preserved land as glaciated beech and maple forest, and the south end of Mill Creek Park reaches into Boardman too. If your yard backs onto woods like those, leaves, roots and shade are part of the pool conversation.

Boardman's current zoning resolution took effect January 1, 2021, and was last updated in August 2024. Section 6.01(25) treats any water feature over 100 square feet and deeper than 24 inches as a pool, and sets these rules:

• The edge of the pool must be at least 10 feet from all lot lines.
• The pool must be completely surrounded by a fence or wall between 4 and 6 feet high, measured from grade.
• That enclosure can have no openings, holes or gaps larger than 4 inches in any direction, except gates and doors, which need locking devices. An accessory building can form part of it.
• Permanent plumbing and electrical equipment for the pool, other than buried pipe and wire, must meet the same 10 foot setback.
• Excavation, construction, plumbing, electrical and inspections are left to the county codes.

That equipment rule changes layouts on tight lots. The pump, filter and heater usually sit along a side of the house or near a back corner of the yard, which is exactly where a 10 foot setback bites. We place the pad in the 3D design first and then fit the pool around it.

Mahoning County Building Inspection, based on Westchester Drive in Youngstown, handles the building side for Boardman. Its building regulations include a residential pool appendix with its own barrier standard:

• The barrier must be at least 48 inches high, measured on the outside, with no more than 2 inches of clearance at the bottom.
• Openings must not pass a 4 inch sphere.
• Pedestrian gates open outward, away from the pool, and must be self-closing and self-latching. If the latch release is lower than 54 inches, it goes on the pool side, at least 3 inches below the top of the gate.
• If a wall of the house is part of the barrier, the county wants either a powered safety cover meeting ASTM F1346 or an audible alarm on every door that opens toward the pool, or another approved method with equal protection.

The township and county rules overlap but are not identical, so we design one fence that satisfies both. The county's design table also sets a 38 inch frost depth, which is what we build footings and the deck edge for.

We sampled the USDA soil survey across the township. Wadsworth and Ravenna silt loams come up often. Both are very deep, somewhat poorly drained till soils with a fragipan, and the survey places the wet zone within about 9 inches of the surface in the wet months. Sebring and Damascus soils, both poorly drained, sit on the flats and old stream terraces. Bogart loam, a better drained outwash soil, shows up on some of the rises. A lot of the township is mapped as urban land mixed with these soils, meaning it has already been graded and filled.

So most Boardman digs need a plan for water: a pump on site, stone and a way to relieve pressure under the shell, and wet spoils hauled away rather than spread on the lawn.

For most Boardman lots we lead with fiberglass. A Liberty shell like the Victory at 11 by 22 fits a narrow lot with setbacks drawn in, and the finish handles freeze and thaw without the resurfacing concrete pools eventually need. On wider lots, a Glory, Anthem or Devotion leaves room for benches and a sun ledge. ICF concrete pools cover custom shapes, and the insulated walls stretch the season. Latham vinyl liner pools are the choice for a custom size at a lower starting cost.

Installed fiberglass packages start at $68,400, including Pentair LED lighting, a variable-speed pump, DE filter, a pool heater, a 4 foot concrete wrap deck, installation and the hookup at the equipment. On a Boardman lot, the equipment setback can lengthen the electrical run from the panel to the pad, and that run is priced separately, along with the fence, extra decking, spoils haul-off and dewatering. Lenders we work with, including PoolLoan.net and HFS Financial, can finance the project.

Boardman's zoning office has posted that, with high application volume, zoning certificates take at least three weeks to review. We file as soon as the design is final and send the county application alongside it. If a narrow lot needs a variance, the Board of Zoning Appeals adds a hearing, so we look for a layout that avoids one first.

Boardman is about 31 miles from our Ravenna shop. We also build in Poland, Canfield, Salem and Warren, so the Mahoning Valley is part of our regular schedule.