Roanoke County, VA Swimming Pools & Spas: Fencing & Safety Requirements (2026)

Chapter 4, Article I of the Roanoke County Code regulates swimming pools mainly as a public-health matter, with sections on water treatment (§ 4-6), water supply (§ 4-7), sewage disposal (§ 4-8) and safety/rescue equipment (§ 4-12) written for commercial and community pools that the health director permits and inspects annually for a fifty-dollar fee under § 4-13(a). Tucked into that same article, § 4-11, titled 'Security,' reaches every pool in the county, private residential pools included: it requires that the pool area be adequately secured against unauthorized entry and that the water be treated to prevent algae growth and mosquito breeding.

The code does not spell out a minimum fence height, gate-latch height or self-closing mechanism, so the standard is the general duty to secure the area, not a dimensional building-code spec. Enforcement against a homeowner runs through § 4-13(e): the health director or county administrator's designee investigates, and any owner of a private residential swimming pool who is in violation of section 4-11 is guilty of a class 4 misdemeanor. Beyond the criminal charge, § 4-13(e) lets the county administrator or a designee take remedial action to protect public health and safety and bill the property owner for the cost, which becomes a lien on the real estate and is collected the same way as real estate taxes.

Public pool owners face the same § 4-11 duty plus the full inspection, licensing and safety-equipment package in §§ 4-6 through 4-12, backed by permit revocation and a right of appeal to the circuit court within thirty days under § 4-13(b).