Before you begin the process of submitting your swimming pool application to your local municipality you must first create your site map. A site map is simply a scaled drawing of your property that includes your house, the property lines, with dimensions and the positioning of your proposed swimming pool. All of this information, regarding your property is in the form of a site map stored electronically at your county Recorder s office. Every recorded file has a number. The problem is If you re like most homeowners you probably have no idea where to find this file number. So do what most pool companies do when they need to get this information to process your pool permit. They look your property up at the local County Assessor s website. The Assessor has all your tax records and property deed information. They also have a listing for the county Recorder s file number the number you need to pull your home s site map. Let s use an example. In this example we ll use the Maricopa County Assessor website. Step 1. Go to: http://www.maricopa.gov/assessor/parcelapplication/default.aspx Once you re at this page you ll have the following options:
Step 2. Start your search by entering either your property parcel #, your address, or your name. It really doesn t matter just start with one and see if you get a listing for your home address. Hint - If you get the following message: Sorry, no matches were found for Street Address try searching the address field by entering just the home number or the street name only. Typically, the search will return a long list of options organized by city. Search through your city results until you locate your property address. Once you find your property address record, make a note of your assessor parcel number (APN) you ll need that information for your swimming pool application submittal. Step 3. Find the MCR#. This is the file number you ll need to find your property s plot plan information. It s also a clickable link that will redirect you to the County Recorder s Office. Click on that blue number. You ll be given a message that you re now leaving the County Assessor site and being redirected to the County Recorder s office. You ll be presented with some search results from which you can choose from. Click on each result until you find a map containing your property.
Here s an Example: Things that you should take note of: 1. Confirm your lot # matches the information on the County Assessor s site. 2. The property line dimensions: 130 x 104.33 x 130 x 99.20 3. Restrictions or easements; ie. 8 public utility easement (PUE) 4. Orientation of the map find the North directional arrow. 5. Any other remarks concerning the parcels within the sub-division. With this information you now have what you need to begin your site plan. Now all you need to do now is add the house and any other existing structures along with your swimming pool design. Of course it should all be drawn to scale, in a 10 th or 20 th inch scale.
Step 4. Need help drawing your home to scale on your site map? Go back to the county Assessor s office site and click on the get GIS maps. Here you ll be taken to another page where you can get a copy of your home from an aerial photo. It site used to pull in your property automatically. Unfortunately, now you ll have to zoom in from a larger map of the county and narrow down on your property. Just use cross streets as a reference until you find your property. Once you can clearly identify your lot outline go to the left side of the map and scroll down the navigation bar until you find a tab labeled, Aerial Photos. Click on the most recent photo and watch as your home comes into view. With this photo you now have all you need to draw your own swimming pool site plan for submittal to your local city, town or county planning office. Just add the information you got from the Recorder s site map such as: property line dimensions, easements and any other site information to your site plan. Of course, you ll need to add your proposed pool and pool equipment location, along with access arrows, and a list that varies between each city, town and county office. To get your list of items that must be included with your site map, you ll need to get a copy from your municipality office or website. In this example, you would download the Maricopa County swimming pool application checklist. Just click this link you ll find a list of several applications and checklists on our website. With this information you should be able to complete your site map and ready your packet of information to turn into the planning department for review. Don t forget your application and your swimming pool s structural engineering. Of course, there s always Step #5
Step #5. Get a swimming pool design expert to do all this for you. What a pool design expert can do for you: Design a custom swimming pool for your backyard, based on your wants and needs. Provide you with pool plan with all the pool specification and equipment lists. Size the equipment to the proper specs based on your pool size and requirements. Research, draw and prepare a swimming pool site map to submit to your city. Coordinate with a structural engineer to ensure you have the proper engineering for your pool. Complete the municipal application and have everything ready for your signature. Turn in the application for you and provide you with a receipt for your records. Make corrections and re-submittal for any redline or comment errors. A swimming pool design expert can save you a great deal of time and frustration fighting the city or town trying to get your pool plan approved. Building your pool doesn t mean digging the hole and plumbing the pool yourself. Find experts or specialist to help you with each phase of construction so go to: www.arizonaswimmingpoolcontractors.com/pool-designs/ and fill out the contact us form at the bottom right and we ll put you in touch with some of the best, most experienced designers in Arizona to help you with your Swimming Pool Permit Process.