A pool on a barge in Bristol Harbor? Hotel wants one, but neighbors don't like the idea

What do you when your waterfront hotel has no room for a pool?

Stick one on a barge and dock it in the harbor.

At least, that's what the Bristol Harbor Inn is hoping to do. But the concept of a floating "pool boat" is facing major pushback from neighboring condominium owners, as the Bristol Phoenix first reported.

"There’s no benefit to the town," Mark Ryan, an attorney representing the Stone Harbour Condominium Association, said at a Tuesday night meeting of the Bristol Harbor Commission. "It's a private use for a private individual."

Maine hotel's pool provided inspiration

The pool boat would be an aluminum barge containing a shallow saltwater pool surrounded by decking, inspired by a similar vessel at the Yachtsman Hotel & Marina Club in Kennebunkport, Maine.

It would be docked all summer long at Thames Street Landing, the waterfront complex that includes the 52-room Bristol Harbor Inn and restaurants like DeWolf Tavern.

Representatives of TSL LLC, which owns the property, said Tuesday that the pool boat would be removed during the winter and before hurricanes.

The barge would be about 44 feet long, but the pool itself would take up less than half that space, according to plans submitted to the Coastal Resources Management Council.

Hotel wants to attract more weddings

Larry Goldstein, a member of TSL, told the Harbor Commission that people tend to search for amenities like pools when they choose a hotel.

"We've been shut out of that," he said.

He added that the hotel was open to restrictions on noise and hours.

Seth Handy, TSL's attorney, noted that the hotel would be allowed to add a regular pool by right if there was space available.

He claimed the pool would offer "a substantial benefit to the town" and "enhance the town’s ability to use the waterfront."

When asked how the pool would benefit Bristolians who aren't paying several hundred dollars a night to stay at the inn, Handy noted that residents "don't always have enough room for all their visitors" and that those visitors might stay at the inn and "enjoy the use of the pool."

Additionally, Handy said, having a pool is important for attracting events such as weddings.

"One issue that people have in selecting this venue is the lack of a water feature that people can swim in," he said. "Frankly, Bristol is being beaten out by Newport and Middletown."

Ryan, the condo association's attorney, took issue with that argument. The hotel recently asked to add more rooms because it can't keep up with demand, he said.

Neighbors fear skinny-dipping, chemical spills

Most of the opposition to the proposal comes from the Stone Harbour Condominium Association.

The waterfront condos, especially those in the south building, overlook the docks where the barge would be located – meaning that residents might hear noise from the pool.

At Tuesday's meeting; however, condo owners mainly cited safety concerns.

"We’re going to have someone killed," commented Bob Camosci, who said his condo has "a perfect birds' eye view" of the docks.

Camosci said that he's witnessed "massive intoxication" and "a crazy mob scene" late at night after Thames Waterside Bar and Grill's rooftop bar closes, with young adults and students from Roger Williams University congregating near the docks.

"What’s going to happen when they see a swimming pool?" he asked. "Two o'clock, three o'clock in the morning, they're going to be skinny-dipping in the pool. Guaranteed."

Susan Ludlow and Ed Abramson, who live directly below him, noted that waves tend to jostle the docks.

That wave action could lead to water that contains chemicals "splashing out of that pool and into the Bay," Ludlow said.

Ron Blanchard, the project's engineer, said the floating pool is designed to avoid that. Since the prevailing winds come from the southwest, there will be a wave fence along the south side, he said.

Who gets the final say?

To accommodate the pool boat, TSL, LLC will need to expand its small marina by adding new pilings. That requires permission from the CRMC, which has extended the deadline for public comment until Aug. 15.

Last summer, Bristol Town Administrator Steven Contente submitted a letter of support to the CRMC, saying that the floating pool "will benefit our public as a whole."

At Tuesday night's meeting, however, members of the Harbor Commission and its advisory board echoed neighbors' concerns about safety − questioning, for instance, what would happen if a runaway boat hit the pool.

Howard Sutton, the condo association's president and a former publisher of The Providence Journal, said neighbors' concerns have been categorized as "NIMBYism."

"That is a fair accusation," he said. "Bristol Harbor is Stone Harbour’s backyard. One could make the argument that the harbor is backyard of all Bristolians."