Article Courtesy of
the Sun Sentinel
By Sallie James
Posted October 4,
2003
CORAL SPRINGS · Police and
firefighters responding to emergencies in the upscale, gated Grand Isle
neighborhood have been put on notice: Lock the gates when you leave, or
don't come back.
Miffed because an electronic security gate
to the private community was left unlocked three times in six months, the
homeowners association is blaming rescue personnel and threatening to lock
them out if they don't shape up, according to a letter sent to Coral Springs
City Manager Michael Levinson.
The Grand Isle Community would like to
put you on notice that if this happens again, we will discontinue your
access to the community and also issue you a fine," warned the Sept. 19
letter, signed "Board of Directors, Grand Isle at Wyndham Lakes H.O.A."
The ominous-sounding letter has left Levinson
fuming.
"It's so ridiculous. It's unbelievable.
The audacity to say they are going to discontinue our access to their community,"
Levinson said.
It's also not possible, said attorney Gary
Poliakoff, an expert in homeowner association law.
"If the police have a reason to enter,
they don't have a right to bar them," said Poliakoff, whose Fort Lauderdale
firm specializes in such cases. "Not for public safety purposes."
In addition, the association also has no
authority to collect any sort of fine, Poliakoff said.
The 88-home neighborhood west of Coral
Ridge Drive and north of Wiles Road is peppered with two-story homes, many
of them with a waterfront view. Homes in the neighborhood sell for upward
of $300,000.
Grand Isle resident David Jones, a homeowner
association board member, called the gate problem a "training issue." He
said board members hope to resolve the issue amicably.
"After their call is completed, they need
to at some point to reset the box," Jones said. "This is private property
and we can discontinue access. Leaving it wide open is inviting thefts
and vandalism."
But if the association has to file a lawsuit
and take the matter to a judge for compliance, it will, Jones said.
"I am aware of no law that would allow
them to keep us out when we are responding to emergency calls," said Coral
Springs deputy attorney John Hearn, adding that associations can bar things
such as solicitors. "When we receive a 911 call, we are being invited into
the property and we will respond to that request for assistance."
Joel Messinger, president of Community
Association Services Inc. which manages Grand Isle, said his firm sent
the letter to the city at the request of the homeowner association. Roy
Priolo, president of the Grand Isle Homeowner Association, could not be
reached for comment, despite two calls to his home.
According to Police Chief Roy Arigo, city
ordinance requires gated communities to provide an emergency access box
for police and fire personnel.
Police and firefighters have keys, and
are supposed to relock the gates after they leave. Arigo conceded they
may occasionally forget.
Arigo has asked his officers to be more
aware of the security gates. A security booth at the entrance to Grand
Isle is usually staffed until about 5:30 p.m. on weekdays, and 11 p.m.
on weekends. After that, the gates operate electronically.
When ambulances and fire trucks respond
to emergency calls in gated communities, they routinely leave the gates
unlocked so other rescue vehicles can pass, cutting down on response time,
said Fire Chief Donald Haupt Jr. If they relocked the gates after every
vehicle, response time would be affected.
Sometimes they too can forget to reset
the gates after responding to an emergency, he said.
"As it is, there is a delay in response,"
Haupt said. "Can you hold your breath another 30 seconds?"
Barring police and fire personnel from
a neighborhood is something that would not sit well with insurance companies,
Hearn said. Hearn is sending the homeowners association a letter warning
of the liability issues at stake.
"The residents need to know emergency services
might be restricted or attempted to be restricted," Hearn said.
Said Arigo of the tiff: "It is silly. We
are going to conduct business as usual." |