We keep getting complaints about neighbor behavior at our community pool. It’s driving the Board crazy. What can we do to control the madness?

Who doesn’t love a community pool? It is the location for summer-time memories, and because it is, the best way for everyone to enjoy the pool is by having an agreed-upon set of pool rules. The off-season is the perfect time of year to start thinking about reviewing past problems and how to set the pool up for everyone’s safety and enjoyment.

Create Rules that Cover It All. HOA board members and community managers need to make sure their pool rules are comprehensive, covering everything from guests, children, swimwear, slides, diving boards, gate keys, codes or electronic keys and even smoking and cellphones.  For everyone’s enjoyment of the amenity, proper swimming attire is required. Some communities ban cut-offs, inappropriate suits and loose clothing. Some also implement a 10-minute safety break, observed each hour, which can only be implemented if your pool has an attendant or lifeguard. Do you have a guest policy? How is it enforced?  What repercussions are in place for a chronic rule breaker…a fine, loss of pool privileges?

Create Rules that are Fair and Legal. While community associations are responsible for the health, safety, and welfare of the people who use common area facilities, like pools, they’re also responsible for writing rules that aren’t discriminatory. The federal Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988 forces associations to examine all rules regarding the use of the common facilities to ensure they do not discriminate against individuals protected by the act, including discrimination based on handicap and familial status.

Follow Basic Principles to Write Rules. The board must have sufficient rule-making authority in its governing documents.

1. Rules must be duly adopted at a board meeting and, once passed, they must be published and distributed to association members before they are enforced.
2. The rule must be reasonable, and it must relate to a legitimate purpose. It should be a good response to the problem being addressed.
3. The rule must be uniformly enforced.

Go Overboard on Education. It’s not enough to simply post the rules around the pool. Reminders need to be sent, and new residents should be briefed. Since new people are constantly moving in and out of the neighborhood, there are always new residents to educate.

Enforce the Rules. Whether you have new or long-time residents, the rules need to be enforced to be effective.  How can rules be enforced? By not ignoring problems giving residents the impression that anything goes. Identifying a rule breaker is key to enforcement. How can this be done? Encourage owners to speak up, install security cameras or hire a pool attendant to help identify the culprit.  Rule breakers should be notified in writing and told their punishment.

Remember, no rules are foolproof, but covering the basics and tailoring the details will make the summer at the community pool easier — and more fun! — for the residents and the pool company who gets to clean up the mess left behind by an after-hours pool party!