Prospect council reduces lot-size limit for detached pool houses, approves two related pool ordinances

The Prospect City Council on April 21 approved two changes to the city code that expand where detached pool houses may be built and revise screening requirements for pool equipment.

Council members voted to amend Ordinance 6-48 (building regulations) to allow detached pool houses on lots as small as one-half acre, down from a proposal using three-quarters of an acre. The amendment to reduce the lot-size threshold passed on a 5-1 roll call. The council then approved Ordinance 6-48 as amended by unanimous vote.

Council members also voted to approve Ordinance 6-49, which revises Chapter 154 (swimming pools) to clarify screening and equipment requirements and removes the term “green barrier” from the screening language. The council adopted an amendment that deleted the phrase “green barrier,” and approved Ordinance 6-49 as amended, 6-0.

During discussion, Council member David Holmes questioned the logic of using a three-quarter-acre threshold and argued it could unfairly prevent homeowners on smaller lots from placing appropriately scaled pool structures in their yards. “So the whole concept of saying we should do it in it just to 3 quarters of an acre seems to me limiting it for just the estates of Prospect,” Holmes said during the debate.

Supporters of the ordinance said the change expands opportunities from the city’s prior policy, which permitted detached pool houses only on much larger lots. Council members and staff also discussed public-safety provisions in the pool ordinance, including gate requirements. Council members confirmed that gates must be self-closing and self-latching and that latch hardware is intended to be mounted high enough to limit access by small children.

The council recorded the votes by name during roll calls. The amendment reducing the lot-size threshold from three-quarters acre to one-half acre passed with Council member Sandra Leonard voting no and five members voting yes. The final votes to adopt both ordinances were unanimous. The ordinances modify Chapter 150 (building regulations) and Chapter 154 (swimming pools) of the city code and will be entered into the code as described on their face.

Council members said owners of existing pools and equipment will remain grandfathered unless the ordinances explicitly provide otherwise. The council directed staff and the architectural review committee language to reference the same screening standards across related sections of the code to avoid duplication or inconsistencies.

The measures are intended to update long-standing local requirements to reflect current demand for residential amenities while keeping child-safety and equipment-screening requirements in place.