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Safety & Security Committee Recommendations to ARB D&CGs

Continuing its commitment to improvement, the Safety and Security Committee is proposing amendments to the ARB Design and Construction Guidelines and would like feedback from owners.

The Palmetto Dunes Board of Directors received several inquiries about the restriction of pool fences within Palmetto Dunes early in 2024. The concerns related to the no pool fencing rule were:

  • Prohibitive cost or inability to obtain homeowners insurance when pools are not fenced
  • Safety risks of unfenced pools

In response to the residents’ requests, the Board Chair asked the S&S committee to review the ARB rules about pool fencing and report back with a recommendation.

The S&S committee began discussions of this topic at the February 1, 2024 meeting. During the committee’s research, they received the final report from the 2019 PD Ad-Hoc Working Group regarding pool fences.  This document provided the basis for discussion and further research.

Individuals from the S&S committee also contacted both the Town of Hilton Head and Beaufort County to understand their rules about pool fences. In addition, publications by the CDC and others were researched.

After reviewing the available information and our members’ reports on the results of their individual research, the Safety and Security Committee unanimously passed a resolution:

The Safety and Security Committee recommends the Architectural Review Board eliminate the restrictions on pool fences found in Section 4.7.4 and partially discussed in section 4.7.3. The ARB shall draft revisions to the Design and Construction Guidelines for review by the PDPOA and consideration by the PDPOA Board. The S&S recommendation to eliminate the fence restriction only pertains to pool fencing. This recommendation does not mandate pool fencing but is directed to eliminate the ban.

The information that supported this resolution was: