A letter obtained by The Citizen from Fayette County’s Permits and Inspections Department indicates the department may be more concerned about developers than whether swimming pool fences are built according to state-mandated standards.

Both Interim Permits Director Joe Scarborough and interim County Administrator Jack Krakeel were repeatedly contacted about this letter during the past week, but did not return calls by presstime. The Citizen intended to ask county officials by what authority they could overrule state law to accommodate local builders.

The letter dated April 30, 2008, addresses how residential and commercial swimming pool barriers should be constructed and begins with a review of the current guidelines.

Scarborough said that it was brought to his attention that some of the fences don’t meet the minimum requirements and that inadvertent approval of the barriers must be addressed.

But the enforcement won’t start until Sept. 1.

“All swimming pool permits issued as of Sept. 1, 2008 will be required to meet all code requirements as written,” Scarborough’s letters says. “In an effort to help the swimming pool and fencing industry through this transitional period all barriers of the design noted above (43 inches between horizontal members in combination with vertical members at 3 1/2 inches on center) will be allowed to be installed.”

Scarborough said the “adjustment period” should allow contractors to “deplete their inventory and not be penalized.”

The current state requirement for fencing a pool is described this way:

“Where the barrier is composed of horizontal and vertical members and the distance between the tops of the horizontal members is less than 45 inches, the horizontal members shall be located on the swimming pool side of the fence. Spacing between vertical members shall not exceed 1 3/4 inches in width. Where the barrier is composed of horizontal and vertical members and the distance between the tops of the horizontal members is 45 inches or more, spacing between vertical members shall not exceed four inches,” reads the International Residential Code.

The issue surfaced shortly before last week’s election when Commissioner Peter Pfeifer complained the county should always be conforming to state standards, and not worrying about developers’ inventories.

“We could have a child climb over one of these illegal fences, drown in a pool, and then the county would be liable,” Pfeifer said.