Word: poole
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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Such is the U.S. genius for mass-produced luxury that the average home swimming pool now costs only $3,849. By year's end, the country will have more than 400,000 of them, a 220% increase since 1959. So enjoy the pool, but keep in touch with a lawyer...
Although specific swimming-pool laws are still rare, chances are that pools come under the local "police power" to regulate public health, safety, morals or welfare. A pool owner may not only have to build a high, strong fence, but he may also also pay higher property taxes. To prevent disease and pressure on local sewers, he may be forced to install a costly pump that recirculates his water every 18 hours. To save town water, he may be required to dig his own well...
...Then come the claimants -for example, the builder. If he runs into "latent defects," such as hidden springs, the builder is entitled to charge more than the contract calls for. If the owner fails to pay on time, the builder may also force public sale of the pool, a move that can conceivably result in the owner's losing his property as well as his pool...
Assuming he escapes that Waterloo, the pool possessor's next problem is a century-old precedent that property owners may be liable for dangerous activity, such as flooding, that takes place on their land and affects adjacent land. The pool owner is exempt only if he can blame a third party or an act of God. Under "nuisance law." which amply covers swimming pools, the neighbors may also sue or enjoin the poolster from all sorts of annoyances-glaring lights, noisy swimmers, noxious chlorine, and bug-breeding stagnant water...
Beyond all that, a pool owner's biggest legal risk is the obvious one that guests or trespassers may be hurt or drowned. Although injuries are frequent, the pool industry claims only 3.7 fatalities a year per 10,000 pools, and suits involving pool-drowned children are still relatively few. Still, the steady proliferation of pools suggests that owners had best beware...