Catawba County, NC Swimming Pools & Spas: Pool Permits (2026)

UDO Sec. 44-624 governs both in-ground and above-ground private swimming pools as a listed accessory use, permitted across the county's residential and other zoning districts per the permitted-use table at Sec. 44-403 (referencing this section). Pools cannot be erected in any required front setback, meaning they must sit behind the same line that governs the house's front yard under table 44-404-1. The pool must also be separated from the principal structure by at least five feet, but the ordinance carves out a specific exception for decks: a deck is not counted as part of the principal structure, so a dwelling and a pool may be connected by a five-foot or larger deck without violating the separation rule.

Lot-line clearance is stricter than the deck rule: a pool cannot sit closer than ten feet to any side lot line or ten feet to any rear lot line, regardless of the underlying district's general accessory-structure setback, which for other accessory structures is only five feet from a side line under Sec. 44-609. Because a swimming pool is treated as an accessory use under this supplemental regulations division, it is also subject to the general accessory-structure limits on height and location found earlier in Article V, and any pool enclosure, deck, or equipment pad built as part of the installation must independently satisfy those same setback lines.