Tips on Regulating Swim Spas in Community Associations

More owners are interested in installing swim spas — basically a miniature pool they can use to swim in place against a current.

“When I talk to colleagues around the country, these swim spas are really turning into an absolute phenomenon,” says Paul Grucza, principal with PDG and Associates, consultants for the association management industry. “The requests are off the charts, and more owners than we want to know are just going ahead and installing them.”

Jennifer Biletnikoff, a shareholder in the Naples, Fla., office of Becker & Poliakoff, hasn’t yet reviewed any swim spa requests. “But it looks like some people try to qualify it as a hot tub because a lot of associations allow those,” she says.

“When you look at the dimensions, though, these are essentially exercise pools. They’re quite larger than a hot tub.”

One of Grucza’s clients recently went so far as to hold a membership meeting about the issue.

“They had a town hall about swim spas because there were several requests to put them in,” he says. “The owner reactions ranged from ‘they’re going to be too big or too noisy’ to ‘what a great idea.’”

Other boards are taking a more rigid approach and denying such requests out of hand. “I liken it to the old days in the ‘90s when people were trying to put in satellite dishes, and the boards simply said no initially,” Grucza says.

Confronted with bans, swim spa manufacturers are arming would-be owners with arguments to present to their HOA boards.

Boards of associations that prohibit above-ground pools are then faced with the question — are these barred pools or permissible hot tubs?

In a new article, our experts offer guidance on how to properly regulate swim spas in community associations, including when disability-related requests come up.

Read the full article here: Is That Swim Spa Allowed?

Best regards,
Matt Humphrey
President