Bergenfield, NJ Swimming Pools & Spas: Pool Permits (2026)

Chapter 277, Swimming Pools, dates to the Borough's 1975 code revision and opens with a blanket compliance mandate at § 277-3: it is unlawful to construct, install or maintain a swimming or bathing pool in Bergenfield without first complying with the chapter. Section 277-4 turns that into a concrete permit requirement for any permanent or stationary pool, with the application going to the Borough Inspector or another official designated by the governing body, executed in duplicate, and accompanied by plans and specifications covering the pool and its auxiliary structures, a plot plan showing property lines and the pool's distance from the residence and property lines, and a description of the required fence, including material, height and gate count.

Section 277-5 gives the Borough Inspector 30 days to approve, conditionally approve, or reject the application after routing it to the Board of Health for recommendation, with a rejection appealable under § 277-8. 50 for each $500 of the estimated construction cost, though no permit is required at all for a portable pool. Section 277-7 layers in the substantive standards the permit enforces: a pool cannot sit within 10 feet of a property line or closer to the front street line than 15 feet regardless of the house's setback, and any pool 18 inches deep, or an above-ground pool 30 inches deep, must be fully enclosed within 30 days by a fence at least four feet high with gaps no larger than two inches.

Pools built before July 1, 1958 are grandfathered out of the setback and permit-fee rules under § 277-2 unless they are enlarged, though they remain subject to the Sanitary Code safety and sanitation rules.