Owensboro, KY Swimming Pools & Spas: Pool Permits (2026)

There is no separate swimming-pool permit chapter in the Owensboro Municipal Code, so a homeowner adding an in-ground or built-in pool follows the same path as any other structure: § 5-18 requires a written application to the city building official, at least two sets of scaled plans, and the applicable fee before any excavation begins, and staking out the pool site does not itself start construction for permit purposes. The Owensboro Metropolitan Planning Commission enforces the Kentucky Building Code chapter under § 5-16 that governs the pool's construction standards, and the property maintenance code separately adopts International Property Maintenance Code § 303, Swimming Pools, Spas and Hot Tubs, by reference under § 5-137(a), so an existing pool that becomes a hazard or nuisance can be cited under that adopted section.

Placement is controlled by the joint Owensboro-Daviess County Zoning Ordinance, Appendix F: § 3-7(f) requires a pool to sit at least six feet from every interior side and interior rear property line as measured under the Kentucky Building Codes, and to meet the same street-facing setback that applies to the house under Article 8; § 3-6(e) separately bars the pool from encroaching into a public right-of-way, public utility easement, or an adjoining lot. Any wall or fence built around the pool must satisfy both the Zoning Ordinance's fence standards and the Kentucky Building Codes, which is where pool-barrier safety requirements are actually enforced in Owensboro rather than through a stand-alone city pool ordinance.