In Flordia kids are forced to play indoors

[frigidmagi]

WTSP

Lakewood Ranch, Florida -- It's the day after Christmas and many neighborhoods kids are outdoors trying out their new toys -- except for one neighborhood in Lakewood Ranch.

The neighborhood of Miramar is a family community that used to be filled with the sound of children playing outside, but the street has been silenced after a rule passed banning kids from playing in the street.

"I just want to be outside tossing a football," says 15-year-old Nico Cardenas.

Instead, the Lakewood Ranch High School student says he now spends more time indoors playing video games after the community's managing company Advanced Management passed a rule prohibiting kids from playing outside in the streets for their own safety.

"They are taking away the fun to be honest. We just want to go outside and play. I don't know why that's such a crime," Nico argues.

Miramar Way is the only road through the subdivision with 172 units.

Homeowner Phil Erickson agrees with the new rule.

"They are kids and have to have a place to play, but the street isn't the place to do it."

But Nico says traffic is light and other options should be considered.

"What they should do is change the speed limit and have a sign saying 'kids at play'," he suggests.

Homeowner Kimberly Koen disagrees with the ban.

"I think it's ridiculous kids should be able to play in their neighborhood."

Homeowners say parks are too far away for kids to go to on their own and yards are too small for them to play in. Driveways and landscaping fill the front yard and the back yard is narrow and borders along the golf course.

"This is their home. They pay HOA fees, they're part of our community. We should be a community and be friendly," Koen adds. "Kids need to be careful and adults need to be careful. Everyone needs to look out for each other."

Advanced Management employees referred all our questions to the manager except he is on vacation and cannot be reached until he returns Dec. 31. Homeowners say a Town Hall meeting on the issue is planned but they have not been given a date or time.

So after decades of trying to get the kids out into the fresh air to play... HOA's are passing laws to keep them inside...

Now I've heard everything! actually I'm pretty sure I haven't but who knows...

[rhoenix]

Wow. I have never heard of something like this before now.

So kids can't play outside "for their own safety?" That part definitely makes me question the reasoning behind this.

[Hotfoot]

HOAs are basically concentrated poison in my experience. They are filled with people who have nothing but time on their hands and something to prove. They are filled with elitist, hateful people who have little to do with their lives but try and tell other people how to live theirs. Frankly, they should be abolished.

[LadyTevar]

I agree, this is a buncha bulshit, probably started by one person who didin't like noisy/nosy kids outside their house.

[General Havoc]

Yeah, this is hardly unheard of. I've known HOAs who literally banned children in general. As in if you have kids, GTFO.

Petty bullshit at its finest. The only good thing is that this is likely unenforceable.

[White Haven]

Some brief zooming about in Google Earth has revealed a good portion of the problem: Some dumb motherfucker decided to play Tetris with housing developments and a golf course that winds throughout that entire area. Then, some other dumb motherfucker decided that the best use of what space was left should be given over to decorative ponds. The nearest park I can see is basically a brown rectangle with the occasional tree looking awfully lonely, and it's not exactly close-by either. Also, yes, HOAs are bullshit.

THAT SAID.

'Get the hell out of the ONE ROAD that leads through this particular subdivision' is not an unreasonable rule. Would it be better if there was more than a very little free space around? Yup. But a road is not free space, and attempts to make children coexist with thousand-pound kinetic weapons is astoundingly stupid. Conversely, attempts to separate the two are quite reasonable. Going one step further, rather than whine that their kids should be allowed to play in traffic if they want to (seriously, parents?), there's a decent amount of forested area behind a church literally across the street from the subdivision. Maybe finding out who owns that and looking into making use of it would be a better use of the residents' time.