How many guests do you allow at your pool?

Our community of 68 condos sold out two years ago. We have a great clubhouse and pool. Total is residents is just over 100. We have 24 chairs around our pool, although the pool capacity is stated at 43. Our Policies and Guidelines state '3 guests per household'. Some of our residents feel that number is unfair. There is another small complex just down the road from us. They allow 1 guest, once a week. I'm curious what other associations have. Although at many times the pool is under utilized, it would only take a few residents bringing in multiple guests to create an issue. What is the situation at your pools?

I say it doesn't matter until the pool capacity is reached at 43. Then you have concerns of safety. We just make sure that the member has to be with the guests.

Condo towers of 200+ units. Ours Rules & regs. originally stated 5 guests per condo unit. But, using the proper rule change procedure in CA, we deleted that rule as unneeded. We only have 3-4 days a year when all our poolside furniture is taken. (13 loungers, 20 table chairs).

Our pool capacity sign says 68 (!!), but I've never seen more than 20 in it and that's rare.

Our rules also say residents must accompany guests.

Why, Brian, do some think 3 is "unfair." Too many? Not enough?

Who does the counting? I see nothing but trouble as soon as some creepy older guy starts pestering children about where they live.

Have fun and knock yourself out.

What do or would you do if somebody told you to buzz off?

What do we do? Well, the situation has forced us to document a fee structure similar to other HOA's. This wasn't in place before. The only thing in our rules regarding penalties was $25 for not cleaning up after your dog. Based on the pool issue, we figured we had better have something in place before we have a similar issue on another rule. I think one of the reasons the residents are violating this and other rules is that they aren't being enforced, and there is no deterrent such as a fee structure. It's a shame it's come to this, but we can't let residents continue to abuse the rules. It may sound petty, but the Board needs to be respected.

I went over and checked, and I'm not sure what the 43 refers to. I didn't see it listed anywhere. I was just given that number by another trustee. The pool has 650sqft of surface area, so that could mean in the pool itself. I wouldn't want to be in there with that many though!

Are you also going to enforce the 43 rule?

Never assume.

Kids may just prefer to stay in the water. So you could exceed your number.

OH ~ MY ~ CREATOR

CHILDREN AT THE POOL !

RUN

RUN FOR YOUR LIVES !

THE HORROR ~ THE HORROR

Quiet hours: 10 AM - 2 PM
No sound producing devices.
No loud voices or yelling.
No boisterous behavior.

Annoying persons will be shot.

ps. the library is available for silence and book reading

the pool is available for splashing and fun

See my above Brian for our demography, which sounds like yours. I'd say 350 days a year, even in our sunny warm climate, we rarely have more than maybe 6 pool users a day. I have a good view of our pool from my condo.

I'm saying that those who want to lie quietly by the pool & snooze or read have may days and hours when they can do exactly that. If like us, your reset also have a balcony or patio, those are good places to lie & sun & read.

Like us, maybe you have a few lap swimmers. We have 3-4 regulars & one does do laps in the late afternoon so he has traffic sometimes. He's retired and can do his laps anytime. The others do theirs in the morning when there's rarely anyone at the pool.

If a condo has 2 residents, typical here, and want to bring their son/wife & 1-3 grandkids, your rules prohibit that. That seems overly rigid to me.

We have pretty strict rules; among them are:

Under 14 most be accompanied by someone 18 + older
No running, shouting, roughhousing, dunking games.

As PiTa points out, pools are for fun; sunbathing/reading can be done anywhere. I believe it's picky & unrealistic to try to create a "balance" between the two activities.

The noise and crowing issues might disappear if you no longer have a pool, but that only gets rid of one location where this may happen. You can still have the same problem at a clubhouse, tennis court, an individual home, etc. It doesn’t sound like Brian’s community is at that point, so I think they should concentrate on establishing and enforcing rules regarding conduct and limits as to how many people can be there at any time to ensure health and safety.

Here are two more ideas – first, you might want to check with your local health department to see what it says on pool capacity. Perhaps they can give you some ideas on how to best ensure health and safety. Second, if the pool capacity is 43, perhaps you can set a cutoff point at, say 35, for residents and their guests. Once you have that number of people in the pool area, only residents will be permitted and once you hit a capacity of 43, admission is closed until the number goes down to 35 or less.

If they have a pass system and give a pool monitor a current list, he or she could check off people as they come in. Again, it doesn't sound like the community has a huge problem with overcrowding (at least not yet), so I would monitor the numbers for now and see if there's any major drama.

I would also poll the homeowners to see what they might be willing to live with. They should be told the Board is looking for the best way to ensure RESIDENTS are able to enjoy the pool (after all, that's why the thing was put in and they pay the water and maintenance bills), but there are concerns about overcrowding if a few people bring in 5-10 (or more) guests.

You said it a lot better than I did, Don!

Thanks Mark. You're a great help. The question was asked "who's the creepy old guy that has to approach the children". I was elected to be a leader, and so I would be one of the one's asking the question. Likely not necessary to approach the kids, since as stated, an adult resident must be with them at all times. In the few times that I have had to question, I did not do it at the pool. I approached them later so as not to embarrass them.

I get the impression that most of the respondents are not HOA trustees, and feel that there is little need for harmony in their community. Let's just let everyone do what they want. Rules are for someone else. What one person wants for their community is irrelevant. Tailor everything to the 51% that want something else.

I just saw nothing wrong with looking for a balance to keep everyone happy. Sounds like some of the communities represented here could be rough places to live.

We can end it now. I've heard enough.

I'm on the Board of our HOA and we have a pool.

Welcome to a Democracy.

We were once upon a time a Republic.

No longer ~ Jefferson has already rolled in his grave.

69 years young and like to splash,

'codger' John

You say this like it's a bad thing...

Actually, most of that is incorrect. The US Constitution only requires a simple majority of votes cast for any matter. Bills become veto proof when they have a 2/3 majority.

And most CC&Rs only require 67% (or sometimes even more) to change the CC&Rs. Normal functions of the board or general body normally only require a majority or rarely plurality.

Welcome to the 51%

To change the constitution requires 2/3.

To change 'most' covenants/restrictions requires 2/3 or more!

Of course most laws or rules and regs or BOD actions require a simple majority BUT said laws or rules and regs or actions must be in compliance with the constitution or the covenants.

So, if the covenant grants right of guests to enjoy use of the amenities w/o specifying a maximum # the BOD may not modify said right w/o a super majority vote to amend the actual covenant.

... basic HS Civics 101 (circa 1962) ...

re the pool issue: the STATE authority having jurisdiction has set a maximum # of pool occupants

case closed