Community Pool Syndrome

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Rob

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May 23, 2007
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I'm coining a new phrase, "community pool syndrome".

Let me explain, we just bought a house, and it came with a pool. I feel somewhat "greedy" and wasteful having this 30,000 gallon monstrosity to ourselves, so after a few hints from a coworker, I offered to let him use the pool with his family on a day he has off coming up. Both my wife and I will be at work, so I figured someone might as well get some use out of the pool.

However, I just went out to lunch with an old friend, and it turns out he had a neighbour with a pool, and used to HATE that. I guess it was a bit extreme in his case, his old neighbours had people coming in and out of there all the time using the pool, and it drove him nuts that it was like he lived next to a community swimming pool.

Anyone have any experiences/thoughts with this?
 
Luckily, I live in Canada, where the whole liability climate is nowhere near as bad. We do have extra insurance in case anything happens, and I made sure there was nothing in it that relied on one of us being there.

The previous owners of the house took things one step further. They would actually go away for an entire month, and leave the house unlocked, letting family and friends know that the house was unlocked, and to feel free to use the house and the pool whenever they felt like it.
 
My next door neighbors swim in our pool a lot, but ONLY when I'm home. I REFUSE to let anyone (except my parents) use it when we're not here. In fact, I'm worried that the neighbors will try to use it while we vacation for a week, so we're putting the solar cover on it and locking the gates to our fence.
 
I make it sound incredibly difficult and full of hassles to prepare the pool for swimming (cover removal, etc) so people are not tempted to come and use while we are out. I do invite others over for swims though and enjoy sharing our fun - thats what its there for. It has to be on our schedule though - how much house/yard work could you get done with others in your pool? Not much here, I would be too busy making sure everything was safe, etc.
 
Rob,

I'm very curious about your post where you state that the "whole liability climate [in Canada] is nowhere near as bad". I'm a recent transplant to Canada from Michigan, where I spent my first 38 years. Needless to say, I'm conditioned by the American way of life that if you give someone reason to sue you, they generally will. Are the laws different in Canada? Where can I read up on this? I have neighbo(u)rs that want to use my pool as well and I'm not sure what to anticipate regarding my liability, especially since they have young children. So far they have only been invited while I was there.

Thanks.

Dave H.
 
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