Commission OKs plan to get emergency workers into gated communities quickly

New development standards requiring gated communities to install devices that would give ambulances and other emergency vehicles a quick way to open their gates received unanimous approval Monday at a meeting of the Beaufort County Planning Commission.

Gated communities lacking the emergency openers would have to install one within 18 months at their own expense.

The amendment must also be approved by Beaufort County Council before it can take effect.

The radio-controlled access system recommended by county staff is called Click2Enter and costs $1,200 to $1,500 per gate.

As passed, the amendment applies only to communities with unmanned electronic gates. Some commissioners, however, said it should be expanded to include gates staffed around the clock.

Commissioner Ronald Petit said it's common for the person staffing a community's gate at night also to be responsible for security checks throughout the neighborhood. Those checks -- and other situations -- might leave the gate unmanned for a while during the night.

"My thoughts are, any gated community ought to ... have this entry by clicker," he said.

Commissioners voted to approve the amendment with the understanding County Council would clearly define requirements that communities must meet if they claim a gate is continuously manned.

A County Council committee proposed the amendment requiring emergency openers after an ambulance crew was delayed for three minutes at an unmanned security gate outside a Bluffton neighborhood in April.

The crew was trying to reach a 62-year-old man who had suffered a massive heart attack, but complications with the gate's code box slowed them down. The man died 10 days later.

In other business, the Planning Commission unanimously approved a zoning change designed to preserve the rural character of Coosaw and Judge islands.

About 15 Coosaw and Judge residents attended Monday's meeting to encourage council to approve an ordinance rezoning about 400 homes into a community preservation district.

Planning staff developed the community preservation proposal when residents of the islands asked how they could combat new development.

"You took the time to become involved and have a say in how your area is going to be zoned," chairman Jim Hicks said to the residents who attended. "You have a better community because you went through this and got to see the different views."

The zoning change must be approved by a County Council before it takes effect.