CDD 6 delays Balmoral gate changes

LAKEWOOD RANCH — The Lakewood Ranch Golf and Country Club’s second public access still will be redesigned, but supervisors on the Lakewood Ranch Community Development District 6 board will postpone the project by at least one year.

Instead of allotting $109,000 for the gate conversion in their 2014 fiscal year budget, supervisors agreed to set aside $15,000 for costs associated with converting the gatehouse at Balmoral Woods and Lakewood Ranch boulevards to transponder-only.

Supervisors have debated the issue for months and voted at a May 22 meeting to move forward with a conceptual design that would move the gatehouse’s location farther from Lakewood Ranch Boulevard and convert the existing gate into one with a bar gate and a metal swing gate, similar to the design seen at The Masters Avenue and Lakewood Ranch Boulevard. The gate would be transponder-access only for residents of Lakewood Ranch CDDs 2, 5 and 6. A “gizmo,” to be determined, would have allowed for friends of residents to enter District 6 through that entrance.

During a budget workshop May 30, however, supervisors said the issue should not be rushed.

“There are a lot of open ends here,” CDD 6 Chairman Bob Burstein said. “I want to make sure we tread lightly as we figure this out.”

Supervisors will spend up to the next year figuring out details of the project, including access for friends and guests of country club residents and impacts to the country’s club’s main gatehouse off University Parkway. Gate improvements will be provided for in full in the 2015 fiscal year budget.

Although supervisors discussed eliminating security personnel at the gate some time next year, Burstein said he expects the gate will be manned for the entirety of 2013 and 2014.

At the meeting, supervisors set a gate conversion-deadline date for January 2015.

“I think the board has acted responsibly about the gate and in regard to the budget,” Burstein said.

Supervisors said many of the issues previously associated with the gate, including speeding along Balmoral Woods Boulevard, could be addressed separately. Board members directed staff to reduce the speed on the roadway from 30 mph to 25 mph and provided $12,000 in the 2014 fiscal year budget for the purchase of two radar signs, instead of one, to deter drivers from speeding.

Additionally, Burstein met with representatives of CDDs 2 and 5, whose territory also falls within the country club, about the gate issue. The other districts are concerned about redirecting more traffic, particularly construction traffic, to the country club’s southern public entrance. Burstein said CDD 6 will continue to work with the other districts to address their concerns.

“We need to begin to work as a community within the gates, and I think that will be beneficial to all of us,” Burstein said.

Contact Pam Eubanks at [email protected].

IN OTHER BUSINESS
• Supervisors agreed to hold a future meeting to discuss a five- or 10-year capital improvement plan, to better prepare for infrastructure-related needs and changes within the district.