Portage County, WI Swimming Pools & Spas: Pool Permits (2026)

Sec. 4.2 puts the county's Health and Human Services Department in charge of licensing campgrounds, mobile home parks, pools and recreational/educational camps under authority the state delegates through Wis. Stats. §§ 254.69 and 101.935. Sec. 4.2.5 states that no person may operate a covered pool without first obtaining a Department permit, expiring every June 30 (or the following June 30 for permits first issued between April 1 and June 30). But the word 'pool' in that permit requirement reaches only a 'public swimming pool' as Sec.

4.2.3(8) defines it, and that definition carves out any pool serving fewer than three residences, home or apartment, occupied by its owner. The definition instead sweeps in pools at a place of employment or public building under Wis. Stats. § 101.01(2)(f)-(g), plus any pool used regularly by people other than the residents, such as a pool at a motel, campground, club, homeowners' association, school or religious organization. So a single-family backyard pool never triggers this county health permit, while a pool serving a subdivision's shared clubhouse, a resort, or an apartment complex with three or more units does, and its operator must apply in writing to the Department, clear a pre-licensing inspection, and pay a fee the Health and Human Services Board sets.

A residential pool can still be subject to Portage County's separate zoning setback and structure rules under Chapter 7, a different permit process from this health license.