Lakewood Ranch supervisors focus on security

Each year, Lakewood Ranch Community Development District 4 spends an estimated $5,000 repairing equipment and landscaping at Greenbrook Adventure Park due to types of vandalism.

CDD 4 supervisors now are on a quest to make the park more secure. At the board’s Sept. 20 meeting, supervisors agreed to a two-prong approach they hope will reduce after-hours visitors and vandalism.

First, the board intends to adopt a towing policy, which will allow for vehicles parked there after hours to be removed. CDD 4 attorney Andy Cohen will present a formal policy to the board for consideration at its November meeting. The policy likely will differentiate between occupied and unoccupied vehicles and also make provisions for first-time offenses or medical emergencies, for example.

“I think we need to do something to keep the area secure after dark,” Supervisor Keith Davey said.

Second, Lakewood Ranch Inter-District Authority staff will explore options to further restrict access to the park, possibly through a gate at its entrance from Greenbrook Boulevard, or other improvements.

Vehicles frequently access the park after it closes at dusk, or when it has been closed. For example, turf along the roadway leading into the park sustained damage after the park flooded Aug. 27 because vehicles drove onto the shoulder of the road to avoid the flooded roadway. Staff had blocked off the park’s entrance, but vehicles simply went around barriers placed there.

Staff hopes a fortified entrance will limit such damage.