Berkshire Hills Golf Course remains closed, but the Berkshire Hills Swim Club will splash on following a permit Munson Township Board of Zoning Appeals granted May 19.
Berkshire Hills Golf Course remains closed, but the Berkshire Hills Swim Club will splash on following a permit Munson Township Board of Zoning Appeals granted May 19.
The pool, which has a current limit of about 90 swimmers, and club house take up a small corner of the 137-acre golf course owned by 2015 Berkshire Hills LLC at 9760 Mayfield Road in Munson Township. Access to the pool area is off Heath Road.
When the golf course was closed down in 2020, it left Rodger Gergacs, owner of Berkshire Pools Inc. and manager of the swimming facility, without a zoning permit.
When he applied for a permit, Zoning Inspector Jim Herringshaw denied it because Gergacs wanted to operate a commercial swimming pool as a principal use in a residential district, according to the application dated April 28.
Gergacs applied for a use variance on the grounds that the pool operated for 15 years under a permit for the golf course before it closed, adding he doesn’t expect the course to reopen.
He noted in his application the pool is fully fenced with parking in a secluded area and is fully licensed by Geauga County Public Health.
In a letter to Herringshaw, Gergacs explains he spent summers at the pool, which was built in 1963, since he was 10 years old and later washed dishes at the Berkshire Hills Country Club.
“This May will be my 20th year working on the property,” he said, adding he planned to open it for the summer on June 7.
In 2003, he became a lifeguard and in 2005, became pool manager.
He was 18 when the owner decided to shut the pool down due to decreasing membership, so Gergacs started an LLC and took over the pool, leasing it from the owners.
The current owner of 2015 Berkshire Hills LLC, Bernard Vukovic, authorized Gergacs to act as his designated agent to request an area variance and conditional use permit so Gergacs can continue to operate the swimming pool.
Gergacs said in his letter the pool has a swim team and events for youth including banquets and dances.
“Over the years, the pool has become a community favorite. The parents pull together to do so many run activities for the kids throughout the summer,” he wrote. “The business saw a steady incline in membership from 2010 to 2019. Prior to COVID, we had about 215 families.”
Although the Berkshire Hills Swim Club is a membership-only business, non-members can participate in the swim team program or take swimming lessons, Gergacs said.
The pool is open seven days a week with lessons, adult lap swimming and team practice until 11:30 a.m. and open swim for members from 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday, with long weekend hours.
Gergacs makes it clear in his letter he is not involved in any other activities at the golf course.
“My current business … is not, nor has ever been associated with the golf course, country club or Bethlehem Hills Christmas Light Show. I am a separate entity operating under my own LLC,” he wrote.
