As an Orlando Native who grew up in this community, my neighborhood matters a lot to me. I have lived at my current address for 12 years and other residents who have lived here for 40 and 50 years, some longer, recall not only the walkways that have been opened and closed over the years, but also a time when there were no chain link fences spanning our streets at all. 

At the end of three streets off of Conway Gardens Rd.--Edland Dr., E. Kaley Ave., and Surrey Dr.--someone took it upon themselves to put a chainlink fence across roads that were once connected to Watuaga Ave. The streets were designed by engineers and city planners to be connected, so there are no cul-du-sacs and no room to turn around. 

This is challenging for our garbage truck drivers, Amazon drivers, tow truck drivers, etc., when it comes to getting through our roads to homes to provide services. The garbage trucks have to back down the road twice, two times a week, in order to pick up trash in our community. They weave around cars parked on either side of the street, as well as cars coming and leaving. And if cars are parked on both sides of the road, they have to come back. We have no sidewalks, so they also must dodge pedestrians, runners, people walking dogs, people with strollers, bicyclists, etc. 

Here is a garbage truck on Surrey in November 2023:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now, imagine a fire truck, an ambulance, or a patrol car. They don't have the option to come back later. NFPA code 18.2.3.5.4 states that "dead-end fire apparatus access roads in excess of 150 ft in length shall be provided with approved provisions for the fire apparatus to turn around." Our roads are well over 1,000 feet. When cars are parked on the road, which is all the time, they violate NFPA code 18.2.3.5.1.1 which states "fire apparatus access roads shall have an unobstructed width not less than 20'." Additionally, we don't have any fire hydrants on our streets, and the only available hydrant is on Watauga Ave. This is a hazard for our community.

Here are Emergency Services vehicles in December 2023:

 

 

 

 

 

 

The chain link fences were supposedly erected in the 80s by Ed Mason, a commissioner famous for stealing a sheriff's gun and shooting/killing his estranged wife and serving minimal time in jail. You can look it up. He went to prison for it. Regardless, if it was him or a group of neighbors, the fences were put up without any traffic studies, adjustments to meet code, or permitting. Neither the city or county has ANY RECORD of them. They were installed completely "off the books," as the news sources in town like to say. In fact, the election and school board map show them as connected.

Now, in the twelve years I have lived here, the walkways in these chain link fences have been open and closed numerous times. As a busy citizen myself, I figured there must be some reason for it being done by officials, but it turns out that it was a few neighbors taking it upon themselves to close up the walkways to keep others off our public road.

In February, two teenagers--one from each side of the fence--saw a kid fall over the fence and bust his face open on the pavement. They walked back and cut open the walkway in the middle of the afternoon. They cut it open a few times after neighbors kept closing it back. Eventually, an FBI investigator stopped by my house to discuss the issue, and I learned that these fences are not supposed to be on our streets at all. The walkways were designed into the fences, despite them being off the books, but citizens had been the only ones closing them up. We tried to get them to stop.

When neighbors wouldn't stop closing the walkway, I took away their ability to close them by removing most of the fence on my street, Surrey. I opened the walkway on Edland. The walkway on E. Kaley was very narrow and double-layered with fencing, so we had to remove one panel in order to open the walkway. 

I worked most of the day alone removing fencing with my sister present for safety and many teenagers from the community saw me working on and off throughout the day. City and County police were present, which stopped some of my neighbors from threatening me. As we started to get closer to noise ordinance, the teenagers stepped in and offered to help. You can learn more HERE in this national article.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The county has since stepped in and put orange barricades leaving a walkway open on each street since February. After months of deliberating about what to do, they gave my community four choices: 

1. Take the fence all the way down
2. Start an HOA and vote to put up a brick wall
3. Put a solid barrier chain link fence that is 6 ft tall
4. Put the fence back up how it was with the walkways intact

When the walkways are closed, people cannot walk around the neighborhood or through to locations we bridge—like an apartment complex and a church. There are two small, safe complexes over there filled with people who deserve equal access. When the walkways are closed off, kids have to decide between jumping the fence to get to the other side or going around more than a half mile through dangerous conditions along a 5-lane road such as traffic from shopping plazas, gas stations on the corners, and fast-food restaurants to get to the park and school. For students who ride their bikes to school when the walkways are closed, that would be their path to school, and an 8 year-old boy was already killed coming home from school in 2018 on one of the proposed alternate paths.

Elderly residents who live in Dixie Grove like the smaller blocks for health reasons. They walk with their grandchildren in strollers around the block. They go to the church. They visit restaurants and stores.

These walkways being open provides the quickest and safest route to school for Conway Elementary and Conway Middle School students, which students and neighbors have been enjoying uninterrupted again all year. The county says there are currently 23 children who take this path to school. This is the only path for them to get to school which has crossing guards at all intersections.

Current code supports open community and the county admits these roads were designed to be connected. The county also acknowledges our lack of fire hydrants and the potential hazard for both first responders, waste management, and residents. Having the roads closed is a liability.

It is also worth noting that the people who fenced up the walkways are calling our neighbors on the other side “convicts, riff raff, trash” and much worse without cause. They want to use this fence to segregate our community by putting a 6 ft tall fence with no walkways after their request for an 8 ft steel wall was shut down. Some neighbors don't care who the fence affects--that children could get hurt, or that it is unsafe for county providers and especially those who need first responders servicing our community.

Children had already fallen over the other shorter chain link fences when community members closed up the walkways. Some of those kids even had to go to the hospital for treatment. Since becoming invested in this situation, I've learned that some neighbors were also putting paint and grease on top of the fences to damage the kids’ clothing when they jumped it as a deterrent.

We cannot support discriminatory language and practices anywhere and certainly not in Orlando in the same neighborhood as Pulse. County research shows that since the walkways have been open, ZERO crimes have been committed, so the opposing side should stop denigrating our neighbors and dividing our community with their racist and classist attitudes. At the end of the day, dividing our neighborhood is discriminatory and embarrassing, and the County should not even be entertaining this. They ruthlessly tell others to remove their unpermitted structures, so why are these fences here? Others are fined daily.

In Orange County when something goes against current standard, we bring it up to code. Any new construction within the county is supposed to have walkways, so it is my hope that the county will not remove the walkways we already had in order to break their own policy by installing a solid barrier. We cannot permit residents to block streets and walkways because it makes a few people more comfortable, while it greatly affects others. We cannot revert to segregating our community to appease a few people who want to make their own private fence in a public space. If they want to live in a gated community, I suggest they move to one. If they want a fence, they can fence up their own property.

Orange County received almost 4 million dollars from Vision Zero in order to fight for safe streets and accessible communities. Many of our commissioners sit on the board for Metroplan Orlando, which received those funds, so their voices should mirror that vision.

If the county is going to put us at risk by leaving the unpermitted fences on our streets and no space to turn around, we at least want ADA compliant walkways with space enough to ride bikes through. They could construct concrete pillars or have large planters which allow for foot traffic, bicycles, rollerblades, etc., but really, these roads should not be closed. Reconnect them. Especially with a forthcoming bike path being installed in the near future directly at the end of our streets, we deserve access to that as well. We would like sidewalks on all streets for safer passage. This allows for a safe passage to school, recreational access for everyone, and better walkability in our neighborhood. 

Gabby’s Law requires sidewalks on all direct paths to school, so technically we should all have sidewalks—Sec 38-1755 (g)(4).

 

 

 

We are asking for you to please share, support, AND especially comment to help our community. Please help us show the City and County that other people near and far do care about our community AND doing the right thing. I am hopeful that we can work together to stop this.