| LovelandPolitics.com |
Loveland developer Timber Winds Land Company will be asking the Loveland City Council
Tuesday night (February 6, 2007) for permission to block access to their development from
Loveland residents except those who buy property in the development. The development
called the “Outlook� is adjacent to the City of Loveland’s Mariana Butte Golf
Course. The developer wants permission to build gates across two public roads, Cove Drive
and Laurel Drive. Only residents of the development and their friends will be allowed to enter
the subdivision.
Unfortunately, the city staff report to Council and press coverage concentrate exclusively on the
issue of ensuring city emergency services can access the exclusive residences in case of an
emergency.
LovelandPolitics.com agrees that is an important consideration, however, it misses the primary
problem with the developer’s proposal. The developer is not taking responsibility for
maintaining the streets and sidewalks but instead wants Loveland taxpayers – the same ones
to be prohibited entry into the neighborhood - to pay to maintenance costs.
According to the proposed agreement marked Exhibit A, “A separate pair of swing gates
shall be installed by the Developer for entering and exiting traffic at both the Cove Drive and the
Alpine Laurel Drive intersections with West First Street as shown on the attached Exhibits B
and C. Each gate pair shall provide a minimum unobstructed roadway opening of 16 feet for
entering traffic and a separate unobstructed roadway opening of 16 feet for exiting traffic.�
Gated communities are commonly referred to as “privatized� communities because
normally the local government will not allow gates over public roads. Therefore, developers
looking to build a gated community will keep the entire infrastructure private thus increasing the
cost for homeowners considerably to maintain their private community.
In rare cases where private communities are allowed to install guard gates or obstacles over
public roads, the public cannot be denied access. This is common in Florida where large
retirement communities feel particularly vulnerable to outside crime and want some form of
barrier between the community and the public. A number of these cases went to court when
the guard, in violation of the agreement with the county and the law, denied access to a member
of the public and in one case a county employee.
Some have compared the gated access in Loveland to that of HP or other large employers.
This is a false analogy since HP Gates only privately owned and maintained properties and
roads maintained by HP. In the case going before the City Council, the developer wants the
City of Loveland to use taxpayer resources to maintain the streets and sidewalks while those
same people paying the taxes in the community would be prevented from even walking their
dog on Cove or Laurel streets if the proposal is approved.
In some higher crime urban areas of the country like New York and Los Angeles similar
proposals were attempted. Residents sought private gates to protect the higher value areas
from the crime that was rampant in areas not too far away. Courts in California ruled that
public entities do not have the authority to provide exclusive access to an area if the roads are
maintained with public funds.
Allowing a developer or property owners the right to gate publicly maintained and owned roads
is a very precedent for the Loveland City Council to create.
Post comment on the BLOG
Tuesday night (February 6, 2007) for permission to block access to their development from
Loveland residents except those who buy property in the development. The development
called the “Outlook� is adjacent to the City of Loveland’s Mariana Butte Golf
Course. The developer wants permission to build gates across two public roads, Cove Drive
and Laurel Drive. Only residents of the development and their friends will be allowed to enter
the subdivision.
Unfortunately, the city staff report to Council and press coverage concentrate exclusively on the
issue of ensuring city emergency services can access the exclusive residences in case of an
emergency.
LovelandPolitics.com agrees that is an important consideration, however, it misses the primary
problem with the developer’s proposal. The developer is not taking responsibility for
maintaining the streets and sidewalks but instead wants Loveland taxpayers – the same ones
to be prohibited entry into the neighborhood - to pay to maintenance costs.
According to the proposed agreement marked Exhibit A, “A separate pair of swing gates
shall be installed by the Developer for entering and exiting traffic at both the Cove Drive and the
Alpine Laurel Drive intersections with West First Street as shown on the attached Exhibits B
and C. Each gate pair shall provide a minimum unobstructed roadway opening of 16 feet for
entering traffic and a separate unobstructed roadway opening of 16 feet for exiting traffic.�
Gated communities are commonly referred to as “privatized� communities because
normally the local government will not allow gates over public roads. Therefore, developers
looking to build a gated community will keep the entire infrastructure private thus increasing the
cost for homeowners considerably to maintain their private community.
In rare cases where private communities are allowed to install guard gates or obstacles over
public roads, the public cannot be denied access. This is common in Florida where large
retirement communities feel particularly vulnerable to outside crime and want some form of
barrier between the community and the public. A number of these cases went to court when
the guard, in violation of the agreement with the county and the law, denied access to a member
of the public and in one case a county employee.
Some have compared the gated access in Loveland to that of HP or other large employers.
This is a false analogy since HP Gates only privately owned and maintained properties and
roads maintained by HP. In the case going before the City Council, the developer wants the
City of Loveland to use taxpayer resources to maintain the streets and sidewalks while those
same people paying the taxes in the community would be prevented from even walking their
dog on Cove or Laurel streets if the proposal is approved.
In some higher crime urban areas of the country like New York and Los Angeles similar
proposals were attempted. Residents sought private gates to protect the higher value areas
from the crime that was rampant in areas not too far away. Courts in California ruled that
public entities do not have the authority to provide exclusive access to an area if the roads are
maintained with public funds.
Allowing a developer or property owners the right to gate publicly maintained and owned roads
is a very precedent for the Loveland City Council to create.
Post comment on the BLOG
| Timber Wind's Current Development (Springs at Mariana) website states, “The Springs at Mariana feels secluded, yet offers all city amenities� Gating public streets is taking this concept even further |
| Developer of "Exclusive" Homes Asks City Council To Allow Gates Prohibiting Public From Using City Streets in Neighborhood |
| Indians at the Mariana Golf Course Entry |
| Click image above to see larger version of drawings showing where the gates will be installed |