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Palm Bay is working hard to keep the city clean!

By
Real Estate Agent with RE/MAX Solutions ( Brevard County)

PALM BAY - Palm Bay ramped up its rules for swimming pools, allowing the city to take steps to prevent them from becoming mosquito breeding grounds and potential sites for accidental drowning.

The new changes allow the city to perform maintenance, such as fixing fences or treating the water with chemicals, if property owners refused to do it themselves, City Manager Lee Feldman said. Palm Bay would then charge the owners for the work.

Feldman compared it to the city's ordinance that allows the city to mow lawns when property owners don't cut them.

"The issue here is protect the public," he said. "This is different than a junk vehicle on someone's lawn. This would pose hazards to folks."

The new code says an owner can't let the pool's water quality deteriorate to the point that the bottom can't be seen through the water. It also requires pool owners to maintain safety equipment required to pass inspections under state law.

The city's code enforcement officers had been able to cite homeowners who didn't care for their pools, Feldman said. But the city's recourse had been to send the violations that weren't corrected to the code enforcement board.

Cities across the country have seen an increase in problems because of pools as the number of foreclosed and abandoned homes rise.

And Palm Bay is not alone in taking steps to avert the issue. Melbourne approved rules last year that allow its staff to go onto private property to repair pools, broken fences and other items in emergency situations.

swimming pool

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