In the dog days of summer, everybody wishes they had a pool in their back yard.
Ted Papas does have a pool in his back yard – but he’s not allowed to go in it.
“We can’t use it, and we’re having a hard time,” Papas told The Post. “We’re trying to get the kids in and we can’t get them in. We’re trying to keep them distracted, find other things for them to do.”
Papas had the $80,000 pool built in 2004, and got seals of approval from two building officials in Ridgefield, N.J.
But in August 2005 and February 2006 he received notices of zoning and code violations and was told not to go in the water.
On Tuesday, he went in front of a Bergen County Superior Court judge to ask for the right to use his pool again, but was denied.
So now his 3-year-old daughter Georgia must stare out the back window, wondering why she can’t take a dip in daddy’s big, beautiful swimming pool.
“She’s asking us, ‘Can I go in the pool today?’ We try to find excuses every day,” said Papas, a contractor. ” ‘It’s too cold, it’s lightning, it’s raining.’ We have to find excuses every day.”
Ridgefield officials say there are also other problems.
“It’s not just the pool,” said Ridgefield Borough Attorney Anthony Cialone. “In addition there are zoning violations, issues with a retaining wall and fence, and issues with work that was done without permits.”
He said the officials who had permitted original plans for the pool did not count on additional work that Papas had done.
Neighbor Joe De Guilmo, 66, also wants the pool drained. He called it “a clear and present danger” to the neighborhood, citing numerous code violations he’s personally witnessed.
“That pool, will, as God is my judge, crack,” said De Guilmo, who has applied to be involved in the court case. “When it cracks it will wash one third of my back yard away,” and gush into another family’s living room, he said.
Everyone is due in court again on July 20 to get to the bottom of the pool situation.