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I would like to discuss several modified versions of the gated village for those communities that do not want the traditional
gated entrance. It may be that the owners of stores and businesses within a village do not want to restrict the buying public
from their doorway. Maybe the residents of a village do not want to have their guests encounter the hassles of driving through
a gated entrance. I would suggest a possible compromise in those situations.
FIRST VERSION
With the first version of the modified gated village the entrance gates are left open during normal business hours. Some
villages may even want their entrance gates left open 24 hours a day. Every entrance should have a posted sign stating that
the streets are privately owned and that all traffic passing through is being recorded by a video camera.
A village may want to keep the exit gates closed 24 hours each day or maybe only at night. A vehicle leaving the community
would approach the exit gate slowly and an underground vehicle sensor opens it automatically. The gate would automatically
close after the vehicle had passed through. Slowing the traffic down with an automatic gate allows the video system to get
a better quality photo of the vehicles and its passengers passing through the gates. Slowing traffic down with a gate may
also allow a police or security car more time to catch up to a fleeing suspect before he can leave the village.
Assigning a security officer to monitor the gates would further enhance the deterrent effect of the gate. The officer
could flip a switch to secure the gate when a suspect's car approaches. A less expensive alternative to an officer on duty
at the gate 24 hours a day would be placing the property owners association office at the entrance. This would provide "natural
surveillance" by the association employees during business hours. The office would also be a source of information
for visitors entering the village or complex.
SECOND VERSION:
A second version of the Modified Gated Community would leave the primary entrance to a village wide open as with a traditional
master planned community. The secondary entrance, if it has less traffic, would have automatic gates closed 24-hours a day.
Only authorized people would be able to pass through the secondary entrance gate with their I.D. card or pass code.
The idea behind this second version is that criminals may be attracted to the quiet "back door" that has little
natural surveillance by village residents. The gates would deter the use of the secondary entrance by criminals, door-to-door
salespeople, carloads of loud teenagers, etc. who want to come and go unnoticed. These people would be sent to the primary
entrance where they have a higher probability of being observed. The security patrol, if the village has one, has a better
chance of catching a suspect when the "back door" is closed.
When I was the Chief Of Security for Lake Panorama I would occasionally get a phone call reporting a suspicious vehicle
or a troublemaker of some type. It was very difficult for me to find the suspects in the large project because there were
so many different exits from the community. I would have been much more successful in finding the suspects had there only
been one open exit for the driver to leave the project.
THIRD VERSION
The third version would leave Village Drive open to the public 24 hours a day the same as they would be with a traditional
master planned community. Only selected residential streets would be gated. The gates could be closed 24-hours a day or
just at night to provide additional privacy and security for the neighborhoods that wanted it.
The Modified Gated Community may be the compromise needed between the people that want unfettered access and those that
want some restrictions on the visitors to the community.
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