Remote gate comes to two Lakewood Ranch communities

A new remote gate system controlled by a kiosk has been installed at Edgewater and will likely go online at the Country Club's Legacy and Balmoral entrances in mid-January.

Lakewood Ranch Inter-District Authority Operations Director Paul Chetlain said the system is powered by Allied Universal, a company that specializes in security systems. Two of Allied’s partners are also involved —Tekwave Solutions, which documents data to keep track of visitors, and PlateSmart Technologies, which provides license plate recognition technology.

The gates were installed to improve cost and efficiency. The new system uses a guard stationed at a remote facility owned by a security company during low-volume, nighttime hours rather than employing a guard to man a gatehouse 24 hours a day.

As a result, Lakewood Ranch IDA Chief Financial Officer Steven H. Zielinski estimates the communities will save $18,210 (Balmoral entrance) and $31,580 (Legacy entrance) from the Fiscal Year 2021 budget to the FY22 budget.

The gates will also allow people to enter the community quicker. Traffic backups can be a problem at the gatehouses, most often at the Legacy entrance, according to Lakewood Ranch IDA Executive Director Anne Ross. Once the kiosks are live, residents will be able to send guests a QR barcode which is scanned at the gate to allow entry. The QR code comes with a PIN that can be entered, for example, if you don’t have access to your phone.

“It makes it very quick,” Ross said. “Plus, we still get all the data of the person coming.”

Ross said the QR codes and PINs correspond to three different types of guest passes. First, there are visitor passes, which the residents can set to be valid for up to a month. Permanent passes, often given to caregivers or housekeepers who visit certain homes on a regular basis, are valid for a year. Finally, there are party passes, which are sent to a group of people for gatherings and are valid for one day.

Residents can also opt in to a public or private directory. If a guest arrives unexpectedly and wants to enter, they can call the resident and communicate through the kiosk. If the resident decides to let them enter, they can press 9 on their phone to open the gate.

As of Dec. 9, Edgewater was still using an in-person guard at all hours to troubleshoot potential glitches while the community adjusts to the new technology. Chetlain said there are still a few issues to work through, such as the efficiency of the remote guard option.

“That call connecting and that guard coming on in a reasonable amount of time, and then a clear exchange between the guard and the visitor is something that's not where we want it right now,” Chetlain said. “We're working on that.”