Homeowners association wants Arlington Heights to end pool attendant requirement

Arlington Heights is one of the few — and perhaps only — towns in the Northwest suburbs with a rule on the books that requires attendants at outdoor pools of hotels and condominium and apartment complexes.

At least one homeowners association in town wants the 40-year-old requirement stricken from village code, while other new multifamily housing developments have also questioned it.

“We would like to be able to go to ‘swim at your own risk,’” said Jim Regan, vice president of the Regent Park Property Owners Association, citing cost concerns and the difficulty of finding lifeguards. “You see the city of Chicago can hardly get lifeguards, and that’s going to happen more and more.”

The local ordinance — which regulates so-called semipublic outdoor pools, not private ones in residential backyards or indoor pools — dates to Sept. 8, 1986. As far as village officials can surmise, the rule may have had something to do with the lack of easy access to telephones outside.

“An outdoor pool, it would not be common for there to be a phone outdoors if there was a problem,” said Village Manager Randy Recklaus. “Now obviously these days, things are different. We have phones everywhere.”

Most village trustees this week said they’re amenable to eliminating the requirement, but sought assurances about safety and more information about what state and county regulations say. For instance, state law requires children under 16 who are swimming in a pool to be accompanied by an adult.

A vote could come as soon as May 18, just as pool operators are getting ready for the summer swim season.

“We want consistency in the indoor/outdoor rule, but we just want the data to ensure there are the guardrails in place, which I do think that there are in the state of Illinois,” said Trustee Carina Santa Maria. “We just want to be able to see that so we know if we have to make any suggested changes to the ordinance to include more of what we want to see.”

But Thomas Akouris, a resident of Regent Park and former condo board member, wants the village board to keep the requirement in place. Akouris said more children have moved to the community of condos and townhouses off Kensington Road across from Prospect High School since he moved in 25 years ago.

“It is very, very important that we continue to have a lifeguard. We feel it is a safety factor because of the young age of the residents that come,” Akouris said. “And if you have no lifeguard, how do you enforce who swims alone and who swims at what age?”

Recklaus and Trustee Jim Bertucci said Regent Park and other homeowners associations could still have lifeguards, but it would be the decision of each condo board.

“Every pool can make this determination on their own based on the needs and desires of their residents,” Recklaus said.