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City Council overrules planners on swimming pool
(by Sue Reid - December 16, 2009)
City Council overrules planners on swimming pool
By SUE REID
Solon City Council has granted the appeal of a resident who sought zoning variances for a swimming pool that was installed without obtaining permits.
The city's planning commission had denied the variance requests of Woodbury Drive resident Alexander Mikhalev, based on concerns about the topography of the above-ground pool regarding draining.
Residents adjacent to Mr. Mikhalev's property opposed the variance requests and submitted a letter to the planning commission stating concerns about the pool.
The planning commission had prepared a couple of options for council to review that would put the pool in compliance with city codes and therefore not require variances. One option would have moved the pool 3 feet further from the side yard. Another would put the pool in the center of the property. To do that, however, would require the removal of several trees.
If council had denied the appeal, Mr. Mikhalev would have to tear down the pool and move it to a different portion of the back yard, specifically more toward the center of the property.
Councilmen Robert N. Pelunis, William I. Russo, William D. Mooney and John T. Scott supported Mr. Mikhalev's appeal. Councilmen Lon D. Stolarsky and Edward H. Kraus opposed the appeal.
In granting the appeal, council members placed as contingencies that Mr. Mikhalev maintain the same liability coverage he had submitted, that he notify the city engineer of any changes in the catch basin and that, if he sells the property, the pool has to be removed.
Mr. Pelunis said he routinely does not like to grant variances when someone already has installed something and then goes to the city for forgiveness. But in this situation, it would put an unnecessary financial burden on the resident to move the pool just 3 feet, he said.
"I thought that was punitive in nature, and I don't think it served any interest in doing that," Mr. Pelunis said. In addition, with this situation, the contingencies placed on the approval result in the city and the neighbors being more protected then if the pool was moved and in compliance with the code.
Mr. Stolarsky said he opposed granting the appeal because he thinks the city is exposing itself to potential liability by allowing Mr. Mikhalev to do something that could have been done without granting him variances.
"Unlike other area variances, such as those for a wider or closer driveway, this could actually harm persons and property," Mr. Stolarsky said, referring to if the pool would fail.
If Mr. Mikhalev's pool would fail, Mr. Pelunis said, at least with these contingencies in place, there is that "extra protection."
Mr. Kraus, who represents Ward 6 where the home is located, said he knows the area well. Homes in that general vicinity, including those along Huntington Drive and Bainbridge Road in the Huntington Woods development, were hit hard during the flood of 2006, as well as in previous years when there were heavy rains, he said.
Mr. Kraus said that, although he has a practice of granting variances for residents who are trying to upgrade their homes, in this case he opposed the appeal, because he was not comfortable with the adverse effect on surrounding homes in the event the pool fails.
"My problem with this was that I wasn't comfortable with, God forbid, if something happened to the pool," Mr. Kraus said. "You've got all of the homes that not only border the house, but other homes on Huntington and beyond that which may be affected by it."
Mr. Kraus did note that correct engineering is in place and he is comfortable that the pool was installed correctly. There most likely will never be an issue with the pool, he said, "but there's that one side of me that was very concerned if there was a failure."
Mr. Mikhalev said there was a drainage connection nearby he would drain to, which the city's engineering department said was appropriate, and he was willing to put that in writing.
Although there is no guarantee that any kind of accident would happen, Mr. Mikhalev said that the pool is secluded by a retaining wall and that he plans to install a deck, which will reinforce the structure of the pool for any kind of accident.
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