A fence

around a swimming pool sent the Coweta County Board of

Commissioners diving into the troubled waters of

variances again Tuesday night.

County

planner Robert Tolleson told the board that the Keith O'

Donnell family on Fischer Road had purchased an

above-ground pool for their property. As it was being

installed late last summer, the contractor informed the

family that it was not necessary to get a building permit

from the county, so the family happily went about having

the pool installed.

But soon, a

county building inspector happened upon the site and

cited the couple for having the pool too close to the

house and requiring them to have a fence with a locked

gate around the pool.

"I

want the name of that contractor and I also want the

county to see if he has a license to do business in this

county," said an angry commission Chairman Lawrence

Nelms.

Commissioner

Vernon "Mutt" Hunter pointed out the county has

had an ordinance for at least 10 years requiring building

permits for pools and requiring fencing as a safety

measure.

The O'

Donnells were seeking a variance from the city's

requirement that calls for all outbuildings to be at

least 10 feet from another structure. The pool was placed

six and a half feet from the home.

For the

last few months, the commissioners have been inundated

with variance requests after a structure had already been

significantly completed and was in violation of the

county's ordinances.

Hunter said

he hoped that recent actions taken by the commission

would put an end to these types of variances.

"We

have the procedures in place to eliminate most of

these," said county administrator Theron Gay.

The

commission voted to grant the variance unanimously and

let the pool stand where it was placed.