Becoming a gated community?

Several people in my community would like the community to become a gated community. I'm on the fence. I know it does not take a rocket scientist to get past a gate and it can't be too cheap. However, it would help keep out some of the bad guys and it would probably raise property values.

I lived in a gated community before and was not a fan of the gate as it was an annoyance. I'm also guessing once the gate is up the communtiy owns the roads and is responsible for taking care of them?

Any pros or cons to offer? Any advice? Anyone else do this or look into it and have a cost estimate?

Thanks

Daryl,

Unless the perimeter of the entire community is secure with fencing, berms or vegetation, the bad guys will use those areas for a point of entry so for a good security system, you will need to be entirely enclosed. The good guys who use the roads will wait patiently for the gates to open. You need also to check with your police or sheriffs department on enforcement of traffic laws. Many departments will NOT enter thry gate to catch speeders, etc so the HOA then becomes responsible for that.

Gates are expensive to maintain. There is electricity or a guard to pay for. Oh yes, then there are the occasional people who are impatient and bump, push or crash into them. There are at least 3 gate types that I have had to use. The popsicle stick that goes up and down , the slide bys and the swing gates. The swing and slide-bys are slow and as long as cars stay close to together, multiple cars can enter on just one access grant. These are the main points for now and I am sure that others have had gate experiences.

I live in a gated community and since the development has been built (2005) the builder and the developer cannot
get the gates to work. Although the owners want them because we did buy into a gated community and the builder
advertised our development as such. We have two entrances and exits with gates. In order to keep traffic from
speeding through our development we closed one of the gates (not operational).

The towns peoople who were used to driving through drove around the gates,onto the side walk, opened the gates and
sped through until the builder but up a barrier that they couldn't drive through.

We had to call the police several times on people in the surrounding neighborhood who drove around the gates.

It's been a year and that has subsided, however, our gates are still not operational.

There is alot to it, especially if you development was not planned for a gated community. Our was built for a
gated community, ie, electrical, phone lines, etc and we are still not operational.

Who owns the roads???? County Roads

Would the county be willing to transfer ownership to you??? No one has asked yet, not that far along.

How about the public's right to use a public road??? We are a dead end community. If you are not going home or coming to visit you need to turn around and go back the way you came to get out. There is nothing but our community up the road. I doubt anyone will object to a gate (but you never know...)

Would you be willing to accept ownership from the county and pay all operasting/maintenance costs??? Not this guy!!!! If that is in the deal I'm off the fence and on the no side.

Private roads are VERY expensive!!! AGREED!

Based on what I'm learning, I think I'm a no. Anyone know anything about costs of a gate system? On top of that we'd need fence, construct a turn around...

ouch$$$

Thanks!

You most likely cannot put a gate on a public road, regardless of if there is anything beyond your community or not. If the public is going to pay for the maintenance of the road, then the public can demand access.

So as you noted, it sounds like you are off the fence.

You could put in the hated speed bumps. Owners may not like this but it sure would cut down on people who do not live in the hoa.

DarylF - You write "several people in my community would like...". Several out of how many owners?

Defintely go to the proper authority prior to installing speed bumps.

Gerald,
Double your post Gerald. If only folks would realize what power 5 or six persistent people have. Get a open meeting set up run by the five or six that go out and pound on doors and there is almost absolute assurance changes will happen. It will take time. Just, do it right and keep the personal agendas out of the room, put your association on an alter and work for that association. Be smart, be open, don't arguie and keep your focus, no lone rangers, all actions vetted by the group and don't shoot yourselve in the foot.

Her's an interesting question? How many associations (%) would you guess, would benefit from a group of honest homeowners establishing a group of homeowners (outside the board) concerned with the welfare of the association? I don't know, my gujess would be more than 50%.

If your local police have a Community Outreach Officer, you could possibly form a C.O.P. group for your community.
Ours works well, and creates a good repore with the Police Department.

Citizens on Patrol, or C.O.P., are groups of citizens organized to patrol their neighborhoods. They are an additional set of “eyes and ears” for the local police. C.O.P. programs are an effective tool for crime prevention. Patrols send a message to both residents and potential criminals that the community is strong and cohesive unit.

Communities have different needs and the structure of the C.O.P. program will vary from neighborhood to neighborhood. Most C.O.P. groups patrol 2 to 4 days a week and vary their schedule so criminals are unable to identify if there is a routine. However, some C.O.P. groups patrol as often as 7 days a week if they have a strong enough volunteer base. Patrols can be done on foot or by vehicle.

C.O.P. participants are observers ONLY. They report criminal and suspicious activity to the police and should not attempt to get involved. Police support is also provided in different ways based on community needs.

Jim:

Our community is also looking into gating our HOA. We already own and maintain the Private streets. We have 438 homes and feel like we will be able to install the gates in the near future.

Check out a company call Amazing Gates @ amazinggates.com they sell all of the materials needed and this allows you to just higher a General contractor to do the installation, electrical and road work that may be required.

I am a big fan of gated communities. I want to know who is in our community and what homeowner they are visiting.

Sorry. I guess when you read it back it does sound a little B.B.

So who's to say that BB is a bad thing? I have somewhat of an affinity for spies. . . (wink wink).

(private joke)

I have a BB, and he's not a bad thing, either!

But, getting back to the topic at hand. . .

I am not a fan of gates. IMO, they only provide a false sense of security while adding considerably to the cost of running the HOA. I understand the gates are very expensive to maintain, not to mention the roads. A gated community cannot exist w/o private roads. If yours are now public then the city or country will have to be contacted and asked if your HOA can take over ownership of all the roads w/i the community. I doubt they would disagree since that would be a big expense off their hands, but, of course, you never know. Also there must be enough room between the public road and the gates for cars to back up w/o blocking the public road. With only 5 or 6 members wanting the gates, I would put the issue in their laps. Next time one of them makes the suggestion ask that person to do the research. Make sure they come back with info from the city or county and info on the cost of the gates; the cost to maintain and, most importantly, the cost to maintain the roads -- including resurfacing (the biggie!).