Advocacy - Pool Enclosure Bulletin
Agency / Organization:
Los Angeles County, Department of Environmental Health
Status: Complete
Intent:
Omgivning collaborated with LA County on a revision to the code governing the design of pool enclosures. Due to code reinterpretations by the Los Angeles County Health Department, designers and developers faced significant unintended challenges related to pool amenity areas and their associated enclosures. Most pool amenities, including a bar, grill, firepit, or kitchen area, could only be outside of the pool enclosure, requiring users to leave the pool area if they wanted to order food or drinks from a bar or restaurant, sit by a fire, visit the BBQ area, or even use the restroom.
LA County’s interpretation of this particular code for pool enclosures differed from that of other counties throughout the state of California, and we decided to address the disparity and work towards finding a solution. Omgivning assembled a task force that included other architects, developers, an entitlements consultant and a pool consultant. Armed with real-world technical experience, the task force gathered examples of pools in LA and in other counties to convey the magnitude and meaning of the interpretation’s impacts. In a series of meetings with the LA County Health Department facilitated by the Central City Association of Los Angeles (CCA), our team worked directly with county officials to create a new document that clarifies the code.
As of October 2019, all new and newly renovated projects in LA County follow a revised pool-enclosure bulletin that provides safer and more welcoming pool requirements for residential and hotel projects. Among many other specific clarifications, the bulletin allows hotel amenities, including bars, restaurants, barbecues and firepits, to exist within a pool enclosure if they are operated by the entity that operates the pool, and if there is an equal amenity outside the pool enclosure for non-pool users.
Omgivning’s Director Morgan Sykes Jaybush was instrumental leading efforts to clarify these interpretations with LA County Health Department and the larger task force. Through this work, Omgivning has helped to restore the relaxing poolside experience that hotel guests and residential tenants expect in Southern California. Developers and designers can now improve how millions of people experience pools in LA while also improving safety.