Beach won't take the plunge on pool guidelines until August

VIRGINIA BEACH

City C ouncil members don't want to dive in and make changes to Virginia Beach's pool ordinances until August.

Councilman Ron Villanueva said he wants to hear from concerned citizens first, including pool companies and residents who live along the Chesapeake Bay or its tributaries.

"I'd like to see more public input," Villanueva said Tuesday night during a City Council meeting. "This is going to affect an entire industry and a tremendous amount of the community around the Chesapeake Bay."

State regulators have told the city to tighten its Chesapeake Bay Act guidelines on when pools are allowed. It's the only city with a Chesapeake Bay Act ordinance that doesn't consider a pool equivalent to such hard surfaces as roofs, driveways, decks and roads when deciding how much of a property is paved and whether it qualifies for a variance.

Just like a driveway, a pool prevents stormwater from filtering into the ground before it runs into waterways, state regulators said.

It could become more difficult to get permission to build swimming pools along the city's waterfront. Property owners who want a pool would have to make additional changes to their property, officials said.

Councilman Jim Wood said he thinks Virginia Beach's ordinance is fine. "A pool is a giant retention pond," he said. "It's a major problem to compare a pool to a deck."

Councilwoman Barbara Henley disagreed. "I think we ought to comply," she said.

The city's waterways are still polluted, Henley said, citing a report released Monday by the state's Department of Environmental Quality.

The City Council will vote on other recommendations from the Chesapeake Bay Local Advisory Board during its meeting Tuesday.

The city's Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on the pools in July. The City Council will likely review the changes in August.

If the local advisory board finds that Virginia Beach is noncompliant, it can forward the complaint to the state Attorney General's office.

City Attorney Les Lilley said Virginia Beach can fight the state regulators in court. But city officials can also push the General Assembly to change state law so pools are considered different from driveways, Lilley said.

Deirdre Fernandes, (757) 222-5121, deirdre.fernandes@pilotonline.com