Inground pools in Canton, Ohio

Canton is a big city with a lot of older housing. Neighborhoods near Stadium Park and the Pro Football Hall of Fame, along the West Branch of Nimishillen Creek, have tree-lined streets and lots that were drawn long before anyone planned for a backyard pool. The outer neighborhoods have more room. Either way, the first job is measuring what is left once the 10 foot setbacks, the house, the garage and any easements are drawn in.

The soil map explains a lot about Canton yards. When we sampled the USDA survey around the city, much of it came back as Chili soils mixed with urban land, meaning well drained gravelly outwash that has been graded, filled and built over. Geeburg silt loam turns up on the till uplands; it formed in clayey till and water moves through it very slowly. Along the creeks, Sloan silt loam is very poorly drained floodplain soil. And in at least one spot we sampled, the map shows Fairpoint soils, which the USDA describes as coal mine spoil.

That mix is why we do not guess about Canton ground. A filled lot can hide old debris. Clay till holds water against a shell. Floodplain soils are wet most of the spring. We look at the lot, and if the history is uncertain, we dig test holes before the 3D design is final.

Section 1140.02 of the Canton Codified Ordinances, rewritten in 2020, governs private pools holding more than a foot and a half of water:

• The pool goes on the same lot as the house it serves, and not in the front yard.
• In single and two-family districts, it must be at least 10 feet from any side or rear property line.
• The pool and its deck must be fully enclosed by a wall or fence at least 4 feet high, with no gaps larger than 3 inches except locking doors, gates or windows. Walls of the house or a secured accessory building can form part of the enclosure.
• A fence attached to the pool itself does not count as the enclosure.
• Water drained or overflowing from the pool has to stay on your property or go to the nearest storm sewer. It cannot run onto the neighbors.

Hot tubs have their own section. A tub up to 80 square feet of water and 4.5 feet deep is treated as a hot tub; anything larger is a pool under the code. Either way, it stays out of the front yard and 10 feet from rear and side lines.

Chapter 1337 is older and more specific. Before work starts, plans and specifications go to the Chief Building Official, and nothing is built until that office approves them and issues a permit. The fence for a family pool must be at least 4 feet high, with horizontal members on the pool side and vertical members no more than 2 inches apart. Gates and doors must lock and stay locked when the pool is unattended. The Chief Building Official can approve other protective devices if they give at least the same protection.

The 2 inch spacing is tighter than the 3 inch zoning limit, so we design to 2 and check the fence product against it before ordering. The city's fence page also allows up to 8 feet in the rear yard and 6 feet beside the house, and fences can go right to the property line, which means a tall rear-yard privacy fence can serve as one run of the pool enclosure, provided its pickets and gates follow Chapter 1337.

Section 1337.05 asks for a walkway at least 3 feet wide around the pool, drained away from it. Our standard 4 foot concrete wrap deck already covers that, with slope built in.

Fiberglass fits most of the city lots we see. A Liberty shell like the Victory at 11 by 22 or the Hero at 12 by 26 goes in quickly on a tight site, and the finished surface does not need replastering after years of Stark County freeze and thaw. On larger lots, the 16 foot wide models such as the Devotion or the Heavenly give room for a tanning ledge and benches. If you want a shape no mold offers, ICF concrete is our custom option, and its insulated walls hold heat, which stretches the swim season. Vinyl liner pools from Latham cover custom sizes at a lower starting cost.

A Canton pool starts from our installed fiberglass package prices, which begin at $68,400 for a 10 by 20 or 9 by 17 shell. The package includes Pentair LED lights, a variable-speed pump, a DE filter, a pool heater, the 4 foot deck that meets the walkway rule, installation and the electrical hookup at the equipment. The fence the city requires is priced separately, as are extra patio, hauling away spoils, dewatering a wet dig and the power run from your panel to the equipment pad. On filled or mined ground, site prep can matter more than the shell you pick, which is why we look before we quote. Financing is available through lenders such as PoolLoan.net and HFS Financial.

Because the city does both the zoning review and the building review, there is one office to satisfy rather than two, which keeps the paperwork simpler than in townships that split it with the county. Plan approval comes first, so we submit a full set, fence detail included, as soon as the 3D design is signed off. On site, the clay upland lots and creek bottoms slow down in a wet April. The drier outwash lots usually do not.

Canton is about 26 miles south of our Ravenna shop. We also build in North Canton, Massillon, Louisville, Green and Hartville, so the planning and the crew are the same wherever you are in Stark County.