HomeMy WebLinkAbout2005 10 10 Reports 605
Date: October 10, 2005
The attached Document was noted by
Commissioner McGinnis on October 10, 2005
during "Reports".
I,\I<;:""''='I'V.I'= .Q'I"'Y - II 1\,.IUUIIIY l"U~lle, lit lTrOm left); momJean~e; 'I Od,:>~; and 1-'010, aWeirnar~r~r0 moved in 2002 from an ungated~~j~~:b()rh609 in sprawling Hunter's Creek
in south Orange County to the gated Calabay Cove subdivision in the sam'e area. DuringthE!;',~~~f~ they were sleeping in the,jr'!!l,~~home,the home was burglarized.
Gates dq!17tal~af~0}f~~~Ftjminals
'"i ..
'", "_"";:",,' ~:." .::,:,1 i ~) I~H::i
Arega~edcommumtles,:~fer?i<
"$ome homeowners are wUlingtp pay moretolive behind gates fClfwhatthey see as
tighlef~urlty,less traffic, and an extra bump in t~ir investment~ll~t a tomparison
ofcrim~j~Ports,rrQm 1,435 homes in a dozen Orilllge County neiijhborh9lids
showed ungate(jsub:divi~jons often.~~rien'~ g:1fTl~ ~te~just as lowas,jhq~~in
nearbY:~~~e.d:~m~~ri.iti~s" ' it, ~:::i,~":';
dez said.
GATES FROM Al
!IS hom~ price ,and location.
Here's what the, Sentinel
found:
. Residential burglaries
md stolen cars were report-
~datnearlythe same rat.e in
~ated and ungatedneighbor-
100ds<____ five burglaries per
100 Homes and one stolen.car
lerIOOhg11les:
. Carbur!llar(e~ and cases
)f criminal 11lischief, such as
lr()kel) Yo'indows otvandal-
sm, were.reportedcaU.gwet"
'ates 11) gated neighbor-
100ds.
· Home prices made little
liffereIlceil) the nU11lber of
:rimes reported, With rates
.eing about .,even . among
,eighborhoods with
;700,000 hgmes arid those
vith homes less than
:200,000.
The suburban subdivi-
ions all had low overall
rime rates and yery little vi-
,lent crime. J;lecause of tb.at,
he Setltlne.l'sreview focused
n property-related crimes.
Everybody' knows codes
Jeanne Sizemore .~nd her
lJ11ilymoved in 20Q2froman
ngated . neighborhood in
prawling Hunter's c;reek in
QuthQrange County to a
at~d.~ub<livision in the same
rea. They liked the big lot,
Ie big house, and the tidy
'ay people in'Calabay Cove
epttheiryards.
D
>rll'i
Nationally, 70,000 gated
Some estimates count
more than 7(J;OOO gated sub-
divisions throughout the na.
tion, with Florida second-on,
Iy to California in the number
of locked and walled-off
neighborhoQlIs. .
o Cqun
Subdivision
probleliis J '. )tediii
thetcleanup'of'hutric!ll;ie de-
bris: . - ,~, .
An,d though c.1illie. still
finds its way inside,' SOllie
homeowners saytfe manda.
tory maintemmce and other
fees are worth it illltause the
gates cut down on'iriffic and
solicitors, and boqstproperty
values.
The gates aIs() keep streets
quiet in a red-hot housing
market where for-sale signs
act as traffic magnets,
"If We didn't have a gated
community, we'd have OUT
streets flooded with people
shopping and Sightseeing,"
sllid. Willia11lGoldberg:\Vho
jiiles in Kensington Park near
Windermere." As far as a
crime deterrent, I think
there's crime. where there"s
gClingto be crime."
In Kensington Park, where
the median home price is
more than $700,000, residen-
tial burglaries were reported
atarateoffive er 100 homes
in the fou f records
. ' ,he
n<lth,e,
Torey
the mel;lian
9g,000.;i.
annlitl
ark are
said,
Pai~
Median Number Residential- Vehide- Criminal- Stolen-
hO!'le of homes burglaty burgla!y misdlief vehide
price in study' rate.. rate" rate" rate"
~lIRlll!$lI!I\~l'll~l\mi.,,~l--~il\!lI'~~~
Nongated; ForestRidge h -, 199,900""' 256 6 ... 4 4 1
~-~'P~_~
Nongated:Gotha 341,000' 202 '5 '11 3' 4
..J Orlando Sentinel
iG~1~q~~, .
~chool, co~d';;'fl~~ce
amount. i>f criiiie . fuel" ':
study reveaJedcerta " .
common throughout the coun-' ,
ty. ' .'
In the reports reviewed,
burglars most' often. got in':
through unlocked. doors; or
open .garages.', Tbllse whO
forced their wayin.ide typi;:
cally used a garden stone. or
bricktosmash'awmdow. '.
"'YJiough most burglars
seemed to go .for quick, porta-
ble items from Victims! bed-
rooms sucp,. as jewelry and,
moneY, bra- "
anc\,::
and-
e.
total
burglaries last. down by
about 35.Dfrom2003, accord-
ing the dlUnty's crime statis-
tics. .{" ..'
Sheriff's U. Kevin Behan
says sOllle cripl~a1s may see
gated homes as a more,lucra-
tive bounty.
"If I'm deterrriined to steal a
Lexus, the gated community
isn't going to be a deterrent to
mycrin;le~,'l
Also, he said, a thief will
take' advantage of someone
who has let hi. or her guard
down by lellvingdoorsand
windows unlocked.
" "Peop~e wh()\i....e in i~ted
commJ11liti~s 'Yh() feel ve(y~e-
cure may have a.le..nden..cy.. .)....to
not be as conscious as'tJiey
should be," he sald."Theseare
the same pe()ple who drive'to
the mall and leave their purse
laying on the front seat."
Criminals find a way
One thing is clear: Gates do
not act as shields against
. crime. '
In the neighborhoods re-
viewed, ungl\ted subdivisiollll.
experienc.ed more opportunis:.
tic crimes such as minor acts
of vandalism ~d smash-and-
grabcar\:))Jrg~anes.. .
But more serious offenses,
such as home break-.ins and
.car theft, Were just as preva_
lent' . borhoods.
.. ..-.'.."..,.-..,., -; \
.. wn
,ess,
ed
things oftJiat.
Schneider, tl)e
Gated n
tho\lgh, .. were
from vandalism
cars and homes
tio screens and broken win-
dows.
"People commit crimes in
areas they feel relatively com-
fortable in," Sc/meider said. ,
"Y()U've, got to be just as wor-: eel,
n(1d. about your ,neighQor's rth
,iOds ,~ you are' [about] oth-'pf' items ,stolen from' her
ers.' 'Heathrqw !:lOme in ApriL Hers
. Astdngofbreak-ihsearlier Was,;o~.i'offour homes bur-
this 'y e arded and:' ;glarize,d . 'in' :the development
gatea lJV' enf that ' ,
in "(is .' e been a work-
dence '0:: ount' of' whd lives in
mon . op a detei'mined ,the who let
. thief. , . . . " :'them "I'm,notna-
. iJllsleworth, one of Cen~a1 ive enough to think that if
JI:!1I.\!siveg\l);ed somebody w!llllS to get in,
'ill,umties:and they can't," ;::,:-:
, sUperst~ ' .
bods, Sha- . . -5eAllnelsta'{
:d:Ken Griffey .thlS'..p.rt. "
r., there were three home Beth Kass.b ,.n be ...,hod
burglaries, one stolen car, two .1 bkiUS.b@o.landosenllnel.,om
stolen trailers and three car' 0.407-420-5448. '
c
"Orange
olall but
~,prohibits
10
~new gates
..
gr,
~Private-copununity
;;homeowners get
s stuck with many
_I, extra costs.
-h
1, By B~TH KASSAB
,; SENTINEL STAFF WRITER
Ie Gated neighborhoods
~ may not keep out all CMe,
_, but they may' keep out the
b,government. ,
. . When three humcanes
-1 tote through-Geniral Flori'
iii da last year, ~ome' resi-
If dents of gated subdivisions
were surprised that they
o were stuck with enormous
.r debris.c1ean-
~~;I.. "
ing com~....
plaints . 'RICH CROm:
pushed' the He ,backs the
Q. Orange . '~h~~~~~~
~ County COrn. subdivisions.
~ mission . last
. year to issue
an unoffic1ll1 b~n on new
gated neighborhoods.
''While th~i seem to
offer these citiiensa'sense.
of security, theyaiso offer
a sense of fruStratiOn:
County Mayor.~~!;JYt1;,Y
~$aid; A year Utter, l!e'$U~
- by the county'sdecision.
\;il~,:~g~~:~~
'!jlostllllUt
'g?vemments
'of;.sll
suchproblerns"
's been "one head-
eranother.:"Fer~
.,."".......ande z said, r.e ferrin.gto a
,jiipe collapse under .the
roadway.
L At least one of the east
iOrange neighborhood's
Lelectronic gates is almost
[always broken, he said,
~'knocked out of commis-
[sion by sometljing as be-
inigri as a strong,'wind gust.
: "They hav,e !!\90omph to
,them," Fernalldez'Said.
, . Other residel'!tsiechoed
t:those complaints.
I ,. Bill Drafts, president of
r~l.Ie. hom~owners :associa-
tuon in Sweetwater West,
p~aid.the neighborhood
linear Apopka might be bet-
:ter offwitho1,!tthegates.
I, "We've actually discuss-
led taking them down, but
(we know there's ~ number
[of people who did move 'in
_ ,here for the because