Editor’s Note: On April 4, 2013, Doug Blevins, a Wilton Manors resident and former President of Wilton Manors Main Street (now the Wilton Manors Development Alliance) sent the following email to Mike Durham, who manages the Shoppes of Wilton Manors for the owner, Rivercrest Properties, concerning the new fence that has been installed around the property and its potential as a safety hazard and disincentive to commerce.

Dear Mr. Durham:

I received your name from the Rivercrest Properties office this morning as the point of contact for your property at the Shoppes of Wilton Manors in Wilton Manors, Florida. I am a long-time resident of Wilton Manors, as well as the former President of the recent Wilton Manors Main Street organization. My focus as a dedicated volunteer has been primarily on the Wilton Drive Corridor with an emphasis first on safety and then on the success and sustainability of our businesses.

With the installation of your new fence along the perimeter of the Shoppes, there is now an increased safety problem. Since patrons cannot ingress and egress through the parking lot to get to the sidewalks on Wilton Drive, they are now forced to enter through the main driveway into the Shoppes, facing vehicular traffic coming and going. I have attached a photo indicating the problem we now face. I am not sure how this could have been approved by the city, but I know the problem must be addressed. I am hoping that you are considering putting sidewalks in place of the current shrub wall to allow for safe pedestrian flow in and out of the Shoppes. If sidewalks were planned, they should have been put in place prior to any such fence construction.

I am furthermore perplexed that with the need for more parking that your company did not consider the benefits of a parking structure where your current renovation is nearing completion. I can only imagine the parking headaches that will increase ten-fold with such a large number of new tenants. I think this will create frustration and escalate an already horrific parking problem, and eventually be detrimental to your largest tenant, the Alibi. I have been told by one of the owners of the Alibi, Jackson Padgett, that they pleaded with your company to consider a parking garage, but that it was out of the question, for whatever reason.

Be that as it may, I find it personally offensive and against all principles of new urban design to put such a fence along an Arts and Entertainment district that is trying to welcome neighbors, visitors, and tourists to our area. What is says to me is, “KEEP OUT!”

I hope both Rivercrest and the City of Wilton Manors will address this issue as soon as possible to prevent anymore injuries or death along the Wilton Drive corridor.