Do you live in Minneapolis as your profile says?
You can contact your ward council member, they will help. Also on that page is a link to 311.
I am a city council member in a town a fraction of the size of Minneapolis and I’d be able to help you out in a jiffy.
I assume your city has a web site.
Click on anything that has the words “building permits”, or “engineering dept” or “construction inspection”.
Call that department. Whoever answers will know how to report a dangerous violation like this.
Yes. In (I think) Freakonomics, the authors mention joining a counselling group for parents who have lost a child. Surprisingly to them, and an interesting statistical fact, the vast majority of parents lost a child to drowning in a pool; almost nobody lost a child to mishandled guns or traffic deaths or other dangers we think children would get into.
The additional fence requirement is because (obviously) many of these kids come from the house that owns the pool - so a gate between the house and the pool is an additional safety margin.
That secondary fence is a requirement here in Ottawa for newly constructed pools. I’m all for it.
The OP’s neighbour didn’t even have a primary fence. Damned right I’d be calling that in.
I am surprised that, in over 20 responses, nobody has suggested in talking to the owner of the pool and finding out if they intend to put a fence around the pool. First of all, that would be the friendly thing to do. Second, it is much more likely that the owner believes he dos not need a fence than they are just waiting for someone to drown. True, it’s a dangerous situation that needs attention, and not saying anything could be considered as being complicit should a horrible accident occur, but as a first step to call the authorities seems a little ass-holish to me. Never attribute malice to that which can easily be explained by stupidity, and all that.
It was pointed out upthread that it’s likely there was no permit for the pool to begin with as a permit would include the construction of a fence as part of allowing the pool.
First, that is just speculation. Perhaps true, but we really don’t know.
Besides, that just adds additional reason to talk to the owner, first. If they don’t know they needed a permit, there is probably other issues they are unaware of. “Calling the cops on them” seems to be a bit more antagonistic than just suggesting to the owners they might want to find out what their responsibilities are before they get into trouble with the authorities
Whoever put in the pool knows.
What if you ask the neighbour and he’s antagonist and tells you to take a hike, or worse?
You’re then obligated to call the authorities, and now your neighbour knows exactly who did it.
I don’t need that shit.
Leaffan, that’s what I think, too. I once reported a neighbor who had a broken, open sewer pipe in his backyard for most of the summer. Afterward, the neighbor said the cop told him who turned him in. He never spoke to me again, and he told his 10-year-old son to stay away from me.
If so, you probably have a month or so before this is a danger. It’ll be that long before temperatures get above freezing and the snow goes away. We’re expecting a light snowfall (only an inch or two) yet this coming weekend.
Just curious, did you talk to your neighbor before you reported him? Because, I would be a bit miffed if a neighbor went behind my back to report something like that before giving me a chance to fix things without involving the cops. Perhaps your neighbor was unaware the problem was bothering anyone besides himself.
Besides, if the cop is going to tell they guy who filed the report, not discussing it with the guy first isn’t going to help you much.
I agree with Leaffan (at least, as far as this issue. The Leafs? ehhh…) Someone stupid enough to build a pool and fail to comply with obvious safety regulations, and then give you grief about mentioning it, is possibly equally likely to do things up to and including rocks through your window, slashed tires, etc. Never underestimate the power of assholery, especially if you both have to live there for the foreseeable future.
Seriously, are there people who DON’T know a pool needs a fence? That indicates a level of stupidity that few can rise to. This is not “please trim your tree” or “weed your lawn”. This is a potentially lethal situation.
Most police will not tell someone who filed a complaint. Of course, the policeman may say something like “your broken pipe can be seen and smelled next door” or something equally clueless and clueful. But generally, they will not disclose something about a complainant. (If they do, complain some more… to the police chief.)
(OP here)
I checked the city’s website (City of Dayton) and they do have multiple permit forms for fences and pools.
This is a new development with constant building going on so I’d imagine the developers are constantly pulling permits and the city constantly coming by to sign off on things. The house is on the main road through the middle of the development and you can’t miss the pool.
They do have some kind of cover over the pool now (for the winter) that looks somewhat structural (doesn’t sag like a tarp) so that’s why I was going to wait till spring/summer.
If there’s any sign they’re getting the pool ready for use again and no sign of a fence being prepped for I’ll give the city a call.
If someone gets in trouble for having a hazard on their property, I think as a general rule they are going to be pissed about being caught. The idea that “so-and-so didn’t have the courtesy to face me about the reckless shit I’ve been doing” is just the cherry on top of the jerk sundae that such people typically fixate on.
This is in a new development and is clearly visible from the street since it’s on a corner lot? So the cops drive by it all the time then and haven’t noticed? I know it’s a civil matter but cops are people to and should notice something like that. You could call them on a non-emergency line and they would come over and have a friendly chat with him or direct who would handle such a matter.
It could be that they just had it finished last August and were “breaking it in”. Ran out of funds and decided to wait until this spring to put up a proper fence. Still it’s a hazard to have an open hole in your back yard all winter long.
You could also talk to them, I’d be surprised if they didn’t have a story to tell.
Where I bought/built a new house a few years ago, a large number of houses were built as cheap as possible (since housing prices are through the roof). As a result, one major savings was that people took possession of houses with no back deck, just the board on the wall for anchoring a future deck. Then they would build a deck once they could afford it, after recovering from assorted initial home-buying expenses. After about 6 or 7 years, only about 2 of the dozen or more houses do not have decks.
I was told by one of the builders that the building inspectors besides inspecting new construction they would also watch for issues like decks installed without permit (some of which, if Holmes on Homes is a guide, were incorrect). Not sure if they actually did this or not.
I had waited for months for the neighbor to fix his steaming pool of shit. He had to be aware of it; surely he could smell it, too. It wasn’t like he didn’t know he should have gotten it fixed.
When I first bought the house, the previous owner warned me to be leery of the neighbor, who had a reputation for persuading people to “help” him with his projects, such as the Gran Torino with a tree growing up through the engine bay. I sure as Hell didn’t want to help him with his stinking sewer pipe.