Over the past twenty years the topic of installing additional entry gates into Encinitas Ranch has come up repeatedly as a means to help with deterring criminal activity. Many homeowners may not know that there are seven different entrances into the various developments in Encinitas Ranch. Currently the only entry where there is a gate is at Quail Ridge north of Leucadia Blvd. on Quail Gardens Drive.

It is worth re-iterating why additional entry gates will not be possible in Encinitas Ranch.

1. The Encinitas Ranch Specific Plan only allows for the one gate at Quail Ridge and no others can be built. This plan is what guided the design and development of Encinitas Ranch in the mid-1990’s by the developer and the City. The City and developer would need to agree to update that plan and given their objectives, the likelihood of such a request being approved is extremely low.

 

2. Article 8.3.15 of our CCC&R’s on Access Restrictions says that ‘no physical barriers can be placed at the entrances within the Covered Property. The Community Association shall not restrict access to the public through the entrances…. without the approval of the City’. Encinitas Ranch was designed with free and easy access to the community and trails. There are so many ways to gain access without driving in that you cannot control access.

Paseo de las Flores and Paseo de las Verdes are public streets and given the position of the City they would not agree to gates on either of those streets.

A very serious attempt was made to install gates at Via Zamia about six years ago and failed. The community spent well over $5000 in legal fees, postage and mailing trying to get the CC&R’s amended. Two rounds of voting were held and in both cases enough votes were not cast to achieve the super majority needed to pass that amendment in spite of telling the homeowners that all costs for installation and maintenance would be covered by the eight homeowners on Via Zamia.

Any attempt to amend the CC&R’s in any way is likely to never pass given the high bar that is needed to be met in terms of necessary votes and it is both very time consuming and expensive.

3. The community learned the hard way that the state of California established rigorous codes and standards for installing entry gates and none of our entrances would meet those standards. The standards lay out the widths and depths of room needed for an entry gate. Significantly more land would be needed at each entry to meet those standards and there is no such available land for gates. If those standards were not met then the City would deny any such request and that was what happened with Viz Zamia. Furthermore, the City does not like entry gates. They are very strong proponents of free and easy access for residents and visitors.

 

4. The Sheriff’s Department will tell you that gates give homeowners a false sense of security and do little to keep people out. Criminals will find a way in. Quail Ridge has the only entry gate and the level of criminal activity in that development is no different than other parts of the community.

 

 

5. Homeowners would need to pay for the installation and ongoing maintenance of the gates and some owners may not want to pay for them. The homeowners on Quail Ridge currently pay an extra $12 per month per house to maintain that gate. It is extremely unlikely that all 500 homeowners will agree to paying more for something that has a limited impact on security. Homeowners need to take personal responsibility for securing their own home and personal property.

 

6. Gates in small communities that have no other means of access might work. However, in the south mesa with about 300 homes you could end up with long queues of vehicles entering and exiting during some periods of the day unless you left the gates open which defeats the purpose.