Inground pools in Canal Fulton, Ohio

The town began as the village of Milan, platted in 1814 on the west side of the Tuscarawas River, and it grew when the Ohio and Erie Canal came through. The canal is still here. The city runs the St. Helena III, which it describes as one of only four working canal boats in Ohio, and about six miles of the Towpath Trail cross the city and Lawrence Township. Kids here go to Northwest Local Schools.

For a pool, what matters about that history is the land it left. The old streets near Canal and Market are compact, with older homes close together. The newer subdivisions climbing out of the valley have bigger, more open yards, and some of them sit on real slopes where the land drops toward the river.

When we sampled the USDA soil survey around town, the map was dominated by Chili and Conotton soils. Both are very deep, well drained soils that formed in outwash, the sand and gravel meltwater left along the valley. Wooster silt loam, a well drained till soil with a dense fragipan deeper down, covers much of the higher ground. The main exception is Fitchville silt loam on some of the lower terraces, which is somewhat poorly drained and holds water close to the surface in wet months.

Outwash is friendly to a pool in one way: water drains away from the shell instead of pooling against it, so a dig here usually needs less pumping than one in clay till. It is less friendly in another. Loose gravelly loam does not stand in a vertical wall, so we lay the sides of the excavation back and plan for a bigger hole and more backfill. Some of the survey units here are mapped at 12 to 18 percent slopes and steeper, and on those lots we price a retaining wall and a drainage plan into the design from the start.

Section 1187.21 of the Canal Fulton Codified Ordinances covers every pool that can hold 26 inches of water or more, which means any in-ground pool we would build. In plain terms:

• The pool needs a permit and cannot go in the front yard.
• No below-grade wall of an in-ground pool may sit within 8 feet of a side or rear lot line.
• The pool and the area immediately around it must be enclosed by a fence at least 4 feet high.
• Construction, plumbing, electrical and other safety requirements follow the county or state codes.

The 8 foot setback is measured to the pool wall, which gives a little more room than towns that measure from the edge of the deck. On a narrow lot near downtown it can still decide between a 12 foot wide shell and a 14. If a design truly cannot meet it, a variance goes to the Board of Zoning Appeals, and the city lists the residential variance fee at $400.

Zoning is handled by the City of Canal Fulton Planning and Zoning Department. Building work is not. The city's own planning page lists the City of Massillon Building Department as its building department, so the building and electrical side of a pool is reviewed and inspected from Massillon. We file with both and keep the two approvals in step, because a zoning certificate without the building permit, or the other way around, stops the job.

Homes in the historic district add a third stop. The Historic Preservation Commission meets on the third Thursday of each month, and the city wants applications 14 days before the meeting. We ask early whether your address falls inside the district so that deadline does not cost you a month.

On the flat, well drained lots, fiberglass is the easy recommendation. A Liberty shell goes in fast, and with the ground draining freely, the usual worry about water under the shell in spring is smaller here than in most of our area. On a roomier lot, a Hero at 12 by 26 or an Anthem at 14 by 30 still leaves space for the patio and a fire pit on the outwash flats.

The sloped lots are where ICF concrete earns its keep. We can build the pool wall to hold a grade change, set the deep end into the hill and use the insulated walls to keep the water warmer in the shoulder months. Vinyl liner pools from Latham remain an option when you want a custom shape at a lower starting cost. On any slope, the retaining walls and drainage are part of the pool, not an afterthought.

Our fiberglass packages start at $68,400 installed. That includes the shell, Pentair lighting, a variable-speed pump and DE filter, a pool heater, a 4 foot concrete deck, installation and the electrical hookup at the equipment. The things that add to it in Canal Fulton tend to be the required fence, extra patio, retaining walls on sloped lots, hauling off excavated material, and the electrical run from your panel to the equipment pad. If the dig hits a wet spot on the lower terraces, dewatering is added too. Financing is available through lenders we work with, including PoolLoan.net and HFS Financial.

The gravel helps the calendar: outwash lots dry out faster after rain than till lots do, so weather delays are usually shorter. The approvals take their own time, with two offices and possibly the HPC, so we start the paperwork while the 3D design is being finished.

Canal Fulton is about 24 miles from our Ravenna shop. We also build in Green, Massillon, Uniontown, North Canton and Akron, so if you are anywhere along the Stark and Summit line, the same crew handles the job.