Inground pools in Green, Ohio

Green Township dates to 1809 and started out in Stark County before Summit County was formed in 1840. It stayed mostly farmland for a long time, and farmers began selling ground to housing developers around 1950. The township incorporated as a village in 1991 and became a city in 1992. About 27,475 people lived here at the 2020 census, spread across roughly 33.5 square miles, including about 1.5 square miles of water.

That history shows up in the lots. You will find 1960s ranches on generous parcels, newer subdivisions, homes on the lakes, and older properties still on well and septic. One quirk catches people out: the city says residents are served by six different postal codes, so a home inside Green can carry another town's name on its mail. Green High School's own address reads Uniontown. The pool permit still comes from Green, not the town on your envelope.

The city runs more than a few parks, Boettler Park and Southgate Park among them, and the Singer Lake Bog nature preserve sits inside the city limits. Akron-Canton Airport occupies the southeast corner. Green Local Schools has its high school at 1474 Boettler Road.

We sampled the USDA soil survey across the city and got more variety than almost anywhere else we checked. On the rolling ground, much of it maps as Chili gravelly loam and Conotton-Oshtemo complex, soils that formed in sand and gravel left by glacial meltwater on kames and outwash plains. They drain fast, and the USDA puts the seasonal water table in Conotton soils deeper than 6 feet. That is easy ground to dig in, though loose gravel walls can slump, so the excavation needs sensible slopes.

Go down into the flats and it changes. Sebring and Luray silt loams, which formed in old lake sediments, are poorly to very poorly drained, and Fitchville is somewhat poorly drained. A pool set in that ground will meet water in spring, and it needs a plan for pumping during the build and relieving groundwater pressure after. Canfield silt loam, on glacial till with a dense layer 15 to 30 inches down, sits in between.

Slopes matter too. Several Green map units run 12 to 18 percent, and a pool on a hillside usually means a retaining wall on the low side and a deck that steps with the grade. Summit County footings go to a 38 inch frost line, so walls and structures are built to that depth.

The city's Swimming Pool Permit Application lays out the rules plainly:

• Pools and the structures tied to them go in the rear yard, at least 15 feet from the side and rear property lines. The form says all elements must meet the 15 foot setback, measured from the property line to the closest part of the pool or accessory.
• You submit a site plan showing every existing and proposed structure.
• If the home is on septic, you also need an evaluation or approval from Summit County Public Health.
• Accessory uses and structures are capped based on lot size and the home's footprint, and you file an Accessory Use / Structure Calculation form with the application.
• Under Section 157.087(5)(H), a pool at or below grade holding 18 inches of water or more must be completely surrounded by a fence or wall at least 4 feet high. The fence needs a permit, shows on the site plan, and comes with a Certificate of Use application, which carries a $50 fee.

Two practical notes from the same form. If you plan a deck to go with the pool, now or later, leave room for it inside the 15 foot setback, and a deck built separately from the pool needs a second permit. And Summit County Building Standards no longer issues its own pool permit, though an electrical permit may still be required.

The form doesn't spell out gate hardware. We recommend self-closing, self-latching gates anyway, because that is the standard in the barrier code the state points to and it is what keeps small children out.

Bigger lots let people think bigger. Liberty fiberglass models like the Anthem 14x30 at $90,200 installed or the Devotion 16x40 at $97,500 are common choices when there is room, and the smallest packages start at $68,400. A spillover spa, extra patio or a pavilion often goes into the same design. On lake lots and wet flats, an ICF concrete pool is worth a look, since its insulated walls hold heat and it can take any shape the lot allows. Vinyl liner pools from Latham round out the options.

Because Green caps accessory structures, we run the worksheet on the whole plan, not only the pool. Ask us early whether your patio, pavilion or pool house will count. Package prices cover the pool, equipment and a 4 foot concrete deck. The fence, extra decking, dirt haul-off, dewatering and the electrical run from the panel to the equipment pad are extras. Outdoor living projects start around $15,000, and we work with PoolLoan.net and HFS Financial on financing.

On a septic lot, the health department review adds a step before the city signs off, so we start that paperwork during design. On gravelly ground we can dig almost any time the weather allows. On the lake-bottom soils, a spring start can mean fighting water, and a summer dig is usually cleaner.

Green is an easy run down I-77 and across from our shop, and we also build in Uniontown, Canal Fulton, Hartville, Akron and Massillon. Homes near the Stark County line are close enough that the same crew and schedule apply.