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File Number: 14-357 <br />General Plan Policy 14.01 Citywide Bikeway System. Develop and maintain a Citywide <br />bikeway system which effectively serves residential areas, employment centers, <br />schools, parks, and multi -modal terminals. <br />General Plan Policy 21.02 Park Maintenance. Provide for the regular, systematic <br />maintenance of San Leandro's parks and recreational facilities to prevent deterioration, <br />ensure public safety, and permit continued public use and enjoyment. <br />Staff researched current information on security gates and a summary of the findings follows. <br />Installation of the requested gates and associated fencing would result in the <br />establishment of a gated community. The gating of Heron Bay at the terminus of <br />Lewelling Boulevard would make the neighborhood appear separate and isolated from <br />its surrounding environs. <br />According to Census Data, approximately 10 million housing units in the United States <br />live in secured communities (American Housing Survey, 2009). These secured or gated <br />communities restrict public access with walls, fences, gates with codes and alarms, and <br />private security. In general, residents choose to live in gated communities for the sense <br />of safety, privacy, community, and to keep out unwanted individuals such as strangers <br />and criminals. <br />Studies and data indicate that besides car theft, gated communities do not have less <br />crime than un -gated communities (Blakely, 2012). This is because gates do not make <br />communities safer and provide little in the way of extra protection by creating an <br />artificial or false sense of security, which can lead to complacency (e.g., leaving garage <br />doors open). Also, the apparent affluence of a gated community can also make the <br />community a more attractive target for a thief (Bell & Lang, 1998). Further, the effects <br />of gating decline over time, since gate codes eventually get shared with friends of <br />residents, delivery people, vendors, and tradespeople (Snyder, 1997). <br />One important issue that faces gated communities is that the restricted gate access <br />can hamper emergency personnel efforts of police, ambulances, and fire trucks <br />through slower response times, which can lead to public safety issues. Although a <br />Knox Box approved by the Alameda County Fire Department would satisfy emergency <br />access requirements, emergency personnel must stop the vehicle, get out and <br />manually turn the Knox Box key. In addition, the tire spikes on the egress side of the <br />street can delay emergency vehicle access in the event cars were queued on the <br />ingress side of the street. The emergency vehicle could not go around the queued <br />vehicles or it would have to back up and use one of the other entry gates. <br />Gated communities can fragment neighborhoods and erode a sense of community, <br />social stability, and social structure within a community, as residents located in gated <br />communities are disconnected from their larger communities and studies show become <br />less likely to be civically engaged. The lack of social cohesion and lower social <br />interaction may result in socioeconomic polarization, which can lead to segregation, <br />isolation, and exclusion (Blakely & Snyder, 1997). Studies show that a Neighborhood <br />Watch Program is the most effective way to reduce crime, because neighbors keep an <br />City of San Leandro Page 7 Printed on 8126/2014 <br />