Sumner County, TN Swimming Pools & Spas: Fencing & Safety Requirements (2026)

Section 1101, Subsection B(12) of the Zoning Resolution requires that "fences shall be required around swimming pools and spas in accordance with any and all barrier requirements contained in the International Swimming Pool and Spa Code as may be amended from time to time," incorporating the ISPSC's self-latching gates, minimum barrier height, and anti-climb standards by reference rather than restating them. Beyond the barrier itself, the Resolution places pools under the same siting rules as other yard features: Subsection C(1)(e) permits a swimming pool as an obstruction in a required yard only if it keeps a 5-foot setback from the property line, matching the setback given to garages and storage buildings.

Subsection D, governing accessory buildings, exempts pools from the county's accessory-structure square footage limits, which otherwise cap combined accessory buildings at 2,000 square feet on lots of 40,000 square feet or less, or 5% of lot area on larger parcels; storm shelters, tennis courts, and similar recreational features get the same exemption. That same subsection, item 6, bars pools from being located within any drainage, utility, or other easement, so a pool that would encroach on a recorded easement cannot be permitted even if it clears the setback and barrier requirements.

Because a pool barrier is a fence for zoning purposes, it also inherits the general fence-maintenance duty in Subsection B(8): the owner must keep the barrier in good repair, and the Director of Building Codes can order repair or replacement of a barrier found deteriorated.