Heritage Harbour CDD plans to tighten speed enforcement

EAST COUNTY — After two months of closely monitoring data generated by two radar-speed signs in their community, supervisors of the Heritage Harbour South Community Development District Board can no longer dismiss resident complaints of speeding.

At the CDD’s meeting May 6, engineer Rick Schappacher read his latest findings: between 6 and 7 a.m., on Heritage Isles Way, a road on which residents have noticed speeding, a driver traveled 72 mph in a 25 mph zone.

After setting up the radar signs, which cost $3,000 each, in February and discovering that most resident complaints about speeding are founded, the CDD now shifts its focus to enforcement.

“We need money in the (2014-2015 fiscal year) budget for re-enforcement,” Supervisor Richard Lane said. “I don’t know what that looks like, but maybe we should consider hiring off-duty deputies to issue tickets.”

After considering speed-deterrent options, such as speed bumps, supervisors hope to secure an off-duty Manatee County Sheriff’s Office deputy to issue citations for speeding.

The supervisors asked District Manager Greg Cox to research a price for once-a-week monitoring by law enforcement.

Hiring an officer could cost upwards of $30,000 a year, Cox said, although CDD supervisors hope to secure services for a maximum of $10,000 a year.

Supervisors expect to vote on the plan at their June 3 meeting. If they do, Schappacher will share the data he has collected with the hired official to determine when and where the officer should be positioned.

Schappacher expects that stricter enforcement will result in less speeding in the district.

The radar signs, which he and Lane move around the community several times a month, have shown average speeds of 40 mph in the morning on various roadways, including Stone Harbour Loop.

What Schappacher doesn’t know, however, is whether drivers slow down after they notice the radar sign.

The radar captures the drivers’ fastest speed and doesn’t monitor if drivers continued to speed.

“I know when I see one of those signs, if I was speeding, I would slow down immediately,” Schappacher said. “But, we don’t know if people are doing that or are continuing to speed. If nothing else, these signs tell us that 90% of people are disobeying the law in certain parts of the community. Having an officer will slow things down.”

Contact Amanda Sebastiano at [email protected].