Unlocked gates are key to dispute
at Springs complex
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."

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