New gates installed at Sarasota Polo Ranches in Lakewood Ranch

Is a ranch more complete with gates on its corral?

Some Sarasota Polo Ranches HOA members said their neighborhood feels more complete after automatic gates went live at the Lakewood Ranch community’s entrances Monday. There are five gates total at the small community centered around the Sarasota Polo Club.

Two of them, at the intersections of Lorraine Road and Polo Club Lane, and Deer Drive and Cow Camp Lane, are used as guest entrances.

According to Tim Hornung, president of the Sarasota Polo Ranches HOA, the project was led by the previous HOA president, Brent Hammil. After confirming the community was on board with the decision, the HOA collected bids from three different companies, eventually settling on CIA Access as the one that matched their needs.

Hornung said the biggest reason for installing the gates was to protect the safety of residents, members, and most of all, their horses. It has a fear a horse could get loose and wander into a major road such as University Parkway. Now the neighborhood, mostly referred to as the Polo Club, is completely enclosed.

Residents also wanted to ride their horses through the community without the threat of traffic spooking their horses.

“This community was designed to have bridle paths, which are like trails, all around,” said Jaymie Klauber, a resident who owns Sarasota's Epic Equine Experiences. “But they're on the side of the roads"

Klauber said those who live in the Polo Club know to give horse riders the right of way and to drive slow, but those cutting through the neighborhood might not know.

Stuart Campbell, another resident and horse owner, is happy about the installation of the gates even though he isn’t worried about his own security or privacy. He has noticed increased traffic recently. Although he doesn’t blame anyone, he thinks much of it is related to The Out-of-Door Academy on Deer Drive.

Other factors include the Lorraine Road and Deer Drive extensions and the development of Waterside.

“It’s a great investment because it will help the safety of our animals and hopefully it will have a positive effect on our home value,” Campbell said of the gates.

Klauber said she has been in favor of installing gates for approximately three years now and agrees they will increase property value. She also pointed out the Polo Club is a private community that pays for its own roads, something that has taken on more meaning recently. She has observed more traffic cutting from Lorraine Road to Deer Drive or trying to avoid the light at Lorraine and University.

“It was nothing terrible,” Klauber said. “It really wasn't. But a whole bunch of us thought it was time.”

She said the completion of Lorraine Road in September of 2017 was a wake-up call.

“We got our gates to our home,” Klauber said of that time.

Residents say the development around them brings benefits, but they have been used to relative isolation their community has been an important feature.

“The bottom line is it’s a private community," Klauber said.