Pico Rivera, CA Swimming Pools & Spas: Fencing & Safety Requirements (2026)

Section 18.18.090 (Swimming Pools) in Chapter 18.18's General Site Standards covers every pool in the City of Pico Rivera, defined broadly to include in-ground and aboveground structures, hot tubs, portable spas and nonportable wading pools. Subsection (B) sets pool setbacks measured from the water line: pools are prohibited outright within the front setback and the street side setback, must maintain a minimum 4-foot setback from interior side and rear property lines, and must keep a minimum 5-foot setback from any other building or structure on the same lot.

Subsection (C), the required enclosure standard, mandates that the pool be enclosed by a fence, a portion of a building, a wall, or another enclosure with a minimum height of 5 feet, built in compliance with the Building Code adopted in Title 15. That 5-foot minimum cross-references directly into the general fence height table at Section 18.18.020, which lists a fence or wall enclosing swimming pools as its own line item requiring the Building-Code-compliant 5-foot barrier regardless of the shorter 3.5- and 4.5-foot caps that apply to ordinary front-setback fencing.

Subsection (D) allows a bathroom to be located within an accessory structure built in conjunction with the pool. Community and Economic Development's Building and Safety Division reviews pool plans for the enclosure and setback standards before issuing a building permit, and inspects the completed barrier before final approval.