Houston County, GA Swimming Pools & Spas: Pool Permits (2026)

The Comprehensive Land Development Regulations list home swimming pools as a permitted use rather than a special exception in the county's residential zoning districts, but attach three conditions. 2(3) states that a home swimming pool is permitted provided the location is not closer than ten feet to any property line and the pool is enclosed by a wall or fence at least four feet in height and provided approval from the Houston County Health Department has been obtained. 2(3), uses the same ten-foot setback and four-foot enclosure standard.

Because the pool is a listed permitted use rather than a special exception, it does not require Board of Zoning Appeals approval, but the Health Department sign-off functions as the gating approval step before construction proceeds, alongside whatever building permit the county's building official requires for the pool structure and any associated electrical or plumbing work under the county's technical codes. The requirement applies specifically to the pool's location and enclosure; it sits within the accessory-use provisions of each residential district's permitted-uses list rather than in a stand-alone swimming pool article, so the same ten-foot setback and four-foot fence standard carries across both the R-1 and R-AG districts.