A final vote is set for Oct. 13 on a proposal that would allow installation of gates at the entrance of certain private residential streets in Wildwood.
The City Council on a vote of 12 to 3, approved Sept. 22 a first reading on the legislation. Councilmembers Greg Stine (Ward 7), Debra Smith McCutchen (Ward 5) and Paul Wojciechowski (Ward 8) were opposed, while Ed Marshall (Ward 2) was absent.
The city has been considering possible changes to its current prohibition of gated communities, after a resident of the Lafayette Crossing subdivision told councilmembers about her problems with unrestricted access to her property off Hwy. 109. Some residents also have cited problems with trespassing, theft, vandalism and litter by those coming into their subdivisions and advocated installation of gates at entries and exits of subdivisions located mostly in rural areas of the city and served by private streets.
During a public hearing on the issue, 20 residents spoke, with most of them favoring the plan.
Richard Kessler, who lives on Wardenburg Farms Drive said that private streets are owned and maintained by residents and called the gates “an exercise in private property rights.”
“We should be able to limit when and who comes down our street,” he said.
Mark Stoecker, of Christmas Valley Drive, said he has seen a dramatic change in the amount of traffic on his private road since moving in 13 years ago.
“My holiday decorations have been stolen from the end of my driveway. People have come up to my home to see if they’d be allowed to hunt, having no business here except looking for a big West County trophy buck. And some non-residents feel there is no such thing as a speed limit,” Stoecker said.
Jeff Tottleben, of Wardenburg Farms, said the city would be under no financial obligation or liability in regard to gates, adding that it could be a challenge for some areas to get the requisite 75 percent approval for them.
“Some fear public streets would want to turn private to get gates, but I doubt they’d want to increase their homeowners’ association maintenance fees, which, for us, are more than $2,000 a year,” Tottleben said.
But others opposed all or part of the plan.
John Gragnani, a founder of the city’s incorporation effort, said the plan “presents a land mine of problems.”
Councilmembers were as mixed as the residents with Councilmember Jim Bowlin (Ward 6) claiming,
“At the end of the day, gates won’t hurt anyone” and Debra Smith McCutchen (Ward 5) insisting, “This is a community meant to bring people together, not to quarter off sections.”
Mayor Tim Woerther added, “Anything that slows down emergency response is something I can’t live with.”
