The gate debate: Will it end?

LAKEWOOD RANCH — It’s the issue that just won’t die.

And, yet, Tom Green hopes to kill it, albeit not single-handedly.

After two years of discussion and several policy changes affecting the main gates into the Lakewood Ranch Golf and Country Club, questions about how best to control non-resident access through the Balmoral Woods Boulevard gate remain, as do concerns about traffic at that location.

Green, chairman of the Inter-District Authority, a board that oversees items of concern to Lakewood Ranch CDDs, hopes to put an end to the debate at last.

“It seems to me we might have a refresher course of the three districts; we need to understand the legal framework for the gate policy,” he said during the IDA’s Jan. 15 meeting, at Lakewood Ranch Town Hall. “I think there’s some misunderstanding on what we can do. I’d like to see the issue disappear. It keeps coming up.”

While the Lakewood Ranch Golf and Country Club (CDDs 2, 5 and 6) is gated, the streets are public and guests can’t be turned away at the guard house.

Cameras at the gates take pictures of all automobile tags in case an issue arises, but CDD 6 has asked guards to get more information from drivers, leading to longer waits and backup times.

The IDA asked staff to collect data, dictate a history of the gate debate and prepare other documentation that would help resolve the gate issues and then share that information at a future workshop of CDD boards 2, 5 and 6.

Discussions of limiting non-resident access at the Balmoral Wood Boulevard gatehouse, in particular, started in early 2013.

Although CDDs 2, 5 and 6 have worked jointly toward a solution — formulating a gate usage agreement last year — residents and board members of CDD 6 continue to advocate for tighter controls at the gatehouse.

The IDA’s discussion stemmed from two factors. First, resident Tom Willson lobbied the CDD 6 board for tighter security, citing policies used by the University Place CDD, and noting that security at the gate doesn’t have to be an “illusion.”

Second, morning traffic using the gate had backed up beyond the stacking lane and into Lakewood Ranch Boulevard. Staff later reported a new guard was working the gate, which was causing delay.

“The situation calls for some attention,” CDD 5 Supervisor Tom Leavy said at his board’s meeting.

Lakewood Ranch Town Hall has implemented some policies to help move traffic through the gates more quickly. For example, in November the IDA established an access policy, through which vendors of homeowners in the Lakewood Ranch Golf and Country Club can apply for and receive a gate transponder for $100 annually.

Homeowners are responsible for telling their vendors about the program. The policy to date, though, has only garnered one application.

“I think we’ve got a flaw on counting (on residents to explain the policy),” Supervisor James Hill said, adding the districts need to find an alternative means to promote the program.

Green noted CDDs 2 and 5 have implemented protocols to expedite entry through the Legacy gatehouse by placing the burden of information gathering on cameras. And, if traffic gets backed up, for example, guards can wave through vendor vehicles they recognize.

CDD 6, however, has tightened its protocols, while others relax protocols.

“We need to talk about it and get everyone on the same page,” Green said. “I think it’s time to address it ... this has gone on long enough.”

DID YOU KNOW?
Although the Lakewood Ranch Golf and Country Club community is gated, its streets are public, requiring that no one who wants to enter can be turned away.

The same is true at communities such as Heritage Harbour, University Place and GreyHawk Landing.
In Lakewood Ranch, supervisors on the CDD 6 board, especially, want entry into the community to be as close to a private, gated community as possible.

This means they want more questions asked by guards so they know who’s entering their gates.

What’s the problem?
“I don’t live in the gate, but I have friends within it. It takes longer at the Balmoral gate consistently.”
— CDD 1, Alan Roth

“I’ve seen the potential dangers of cars (stacking in the roadway).”
— CDD 6, Hank Hofeler

“We’ve been debating this long enough. We need to address it and get it off the table. The worse thing is this misinformation.”
— IDA Chairman, Tom Green

“This meeting is a good idea. It’ll be helpful to 6 and navigate the policy that has already happened.”
— CDD 5, Martin Cohn