Skokie, IL Swimming Pools & Spas: Pool Permits (2026)

Section 22-212 of the Property Maintenance Code's swimming pool article requires anyone who wants to construct a swimming pool, or make structural alterations to an existing private or public pool, to first obtain a permit issued and signed by the Village Manager or designee upon approval of the application. The permit requirement covers every class of pool defined in Sec. 22-211, belowground pools, aboveground permanent pools, and aboveground portable pools, with a single carve-out: no construction permit is required for a portable pool with a capacity of 500 gallons or less.

Applications must be made on forms the Village Manager or designee prescribes and furnishes, and the reviewing official can request additional information from the applicant before acting on the permit. Public pool applications carry an extra requirement not imposed on private residential pools: the application must be accompanied by a construction approval permit issued by the State Department of Public Health under the State's swimming pool law. Once a pool is built, a separate operating regime applies under Sec. 22-213: public pools need an annual permit to operate, renewed every May and whenever a pool reopens after being closed more than 3 months, while 1- and 2-family residential pools are exempt from the annual operating permit altogether.

Location standards run alongside the permit process: Sec. 22-217 keeps every private residential pool at least 8 feet from side or rear property lines, along with its pumps, filters, and disinfection equipment, and bars issuance of a pool permit until the required off-street parking under the Zoning Ordinance, Chapter 118, is provided, unless no parking can physically be added to an existing improved lot.