november 14, 20199d37d958-4706-405… · the survey was launched in the september 2019 vfr...

2019 CITIZEN SURVEY RESULTS

MARY RODERICK, PH.D. LAND OF SKY REGIONAL COUNCIL

Regional Planner

NOVEMBER 14, 2019

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Contents Executive Summary ....................................................................................................................................... 2

Survey Design and Implementation Overview ............................................................................................. 3

Survey Results ............................................................................................................................................... 4

Demographics ........................................................................................................................................... 6

Services ..................................................................................................................................................... 9

Preferences and Concerns ...................................................................................................................... 14

Comparison with Previous Surveys ............................................................................................................. 27

Appendix A – Additional Demographic Analysis and Information .............................................................. 28

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Executive Summary The Village of Flat Rock Council approved a citizen survey in June 2019, coordinated through the Planning Board, to gauge citizen satisfaction with services provided by the Village and other agencies, as well as preferences and concerns related to land use, development, transportation and infrastructure. Out of an estimated 3,3621 residents, 609 (18.1%) started the survey and 580 (17.3%) completed it. Generally, a 10% response rate is considered valid for a public opinion survey, assuming the respondents were randomly sampled. Given the relative similarity across demographics in the community, the VFR chose to make the survey available to anyone who wanted to take it.

71.9% of the respondents were over 65 and 85.2% live in a single or two-person household. The 2013-2017 American Community Survey estimated that just over 50% of the population was over 65, so that population appears to be represented at a higher rate in the survey, but the survey household size is similar to the ACS estimate of 84.9% across all age categories2. Gender, race, and income were not surveyed, but the Village is 67% female, 99% white, and the median household income is $69,7323. More detailed community information is included in Appendix A. Geographically, survey responses were received from throughout the Village (see Figures 1 and 2 in the Survey Results section).

The following are a few highlights from the survey results:

Services

• Most residents are satisfied or very satisfied with the services provided by the Village, particularly the Flat Rock Park. The level of public involvement in local decisions had the most room for improvement.

• Most residents are satisfied or very satisfied by the services provided by other agencies, again particularly with the Flat Rock Park programming. Areas for improvement include NCDOT road maintenance and internet service.

• People were fairly evenly split on whether Village funds should be used to provide additional services like police and animal control, but over 53% did not want to add solid waste collection.

Preferences and Concerns

• Most still prefer single-family (SF) development on large lots (88.97%), but clustered SF development received 56.55% approval and more than a third supported condominiums and townhomes.

• Slightly more people were interested in having a continuing care community located in Flat Rock (33.62% yes versus 30.69% no), but most were unsure (35.69%).

• Most people felt the amount of commercial development was about right (77.69%), and a more favored regulating short-term rentals (47.07% yes versus 33.28% no).

• The top three concerns about public roads were: bicycle safety (48.97%), preservation of visual quality (47.41%), and truck traffic (45%). Speeding, falling tree limbs, narrow road width, and pedestrian safety concerned at least a third of the residents as well.

1 American Community Survey 2018 population estimate. 2 American Community Survey 2013-2017 demographic and housing estimates. 3 American Community Survey 2013-2017 demographic and housing estimates.

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• More people would support lower speed limits and traffic calming measures (48.97%) in the Village Center and near the Carl Sandburg Home.

• Most people were unsure about whether road improvement projects should be considered by the Henderson County TAC and Village Council (36.9%), but 35% responded yes, there were projects that needed future action. The Survey Results section provides more details.

• Slightly more people felt that Flat Rock does not need more multi-use paths (44.48%), and a majority would not grant an easement or access to their property for path development (59.31%).

• A majority of people would like to see electric utilities placed underground (79.66%). • The top three reasons people chose for living in Flat Rock were safety and security (85.69%),

quality of housing (80.34%), and historic character (71.55%). Access to quality health care, sense of community and cultural assets all ranked highly as well.

The survey results were also segmented by age (over 65 and under 65) and length of residence (<5, 5-10, 11-25, >25 years). However, the 5.1% response rate for those under 65 (versus 13% over 65), and less than 10% for all residence categories (11-25 had the highest with 6.9%), make the segmented results less reliable. They largely tracked each over for each question, but there were some differences by segment, which will be noted in the results section with the reliability caveat.

Survey Design and Implementation Overview Land of Sky Regional Council (LOSRC) was contracted to implement and execute the survey. LOSRC staff consulted with each Planning Board member to develop the survey questions, reviewed the final version with the Planning Board, and also reviewed the survey draft with the Village Council and incorporated their changes as well. The previous VFR surveys from 1997, 2004 and 2010 provided a starting point for the questions, as well as current topics of concern, the Village’s Comprehensive Land Use Update and Implementation Plan, and recent regional surveys on transportation planning and broadband access. Survey examples from similar communities like Pinehurst and Davidson, as well as resources from the UNC School of Government and AARP also informed the survey design.

The survey was launched in the September 2019 VFR newsletter, and publicized via the Village website, the Historic Flat Rock member list, and homeowner association mailing lists. The majority of respondents completed the survey on paper (409), and 200 completed it online via Survey Monkey. The survey officially closed on September 30th, but all survey responses received were included in the results.

An intern from Western Carolina University’s Master of Public Affairs program, Neal Wheeler, assisted with entering the paper surveys into Survey Monkey and with the segmentation and comment analysis.

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Survey Results Table 1 provides an overview of survey respondents both by age and length of residence in Flat Rock. Out of an estimated 3,3624 residents, 609 (18.1%) started the survey and 580 (17.3%) completed it.

Table 1. Flat Rock Survey Respondent Demographic Breakdown

Length of residence in

years <5 5 - 10 11 - 25 25+ Total Age

<65 42% 31% 18% 26% 28%

67 31 42 31 171

65+ 58% 69% 82% 74% 72%

94 68 190 86 438 Subtotal 161 99 232 117 609

The following two maps (Figures 1 and 2) show the distribution of the majority of the respondents throughout the Village; 510 people opted to share this information. 81.61% of the respondents live in a subdivision, and the highest densities on the maps correspond Kenmure, subdivisions off of Little River Road, and Highland Lake. The Village Center was also well-represented in the survey results.

Figure 1. Heat map showing density of responses, which corresponds with the largest subdivisions.

4 American Community Survey 2018 population estimate.

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Figure 2. Point density map, which provides more detail about how many responses were received by location.

The following pages show the full survey results from Survey Monkey along with the segmented information where there seemed to be notable differences. Question 3 - the name of your street has been omitted, please refer to Figures 1 and 2. Comments from each question that allowed open-ended input have been tagged and summarized as well. Planning Board Chair, Dennis Malloy, reviewed the results, presented these to the Planning Board, and provided feedback that has been incorporated into the final report.

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Demographics

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Total Comments 477 of 609 (78.3%) Kenmure 166 (27.3%) Highland Lake Village, Golf Villas 58 (9.5%) Dunroy 36 (5.9%) Claremont 29 (4.8%) Kingwood 16 (2.6%) Statewoods 16 (2.6%) Woodhaven 14 (2.2%) Beaumont 10 (1.6%) Other 132 (21.7%)

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

<30 30 - 45 46 - 64 65+

Age by Length of Residence (Years)

<5 5 - 10 11 - 24 25+

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Services

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Note: the segmented graphs combine the satisfied and very satisfied categories.

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

CustomerService

CodeEnforcement

PublicInvolvement

Parks N Rec Communication Historic Pres Conservation

Satisfaction with Village Services by Years of Residence

<5 6 - 10 11 - 25 25+

0%20%40%60%80%

100%

Satisfaction with Village Services by Age of Residents

<65 65+

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Note: the segmented graphs combine the satisfied and very satisfied categories.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Fire/EMT ISP's NCDOT Parks N Rec Public Safety Solid Waste

Satisfaction with Outside Services by Years of Residence

<5 6 - 10 11 - 25 25+

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Fire/EMT ISP's NCDOT Parks N Rec Public Safety Solid Waste

Satisfaction with Outside Services by Age

<65 65+

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Total Comments 37 of 592 (6.2%) Reduce or Maintain Services 10 (27%) Animal Control/Pet Nuisance Violations 7 (19%) Parks and Recreation Improvement 5 (13.5%) Fire / EMT Services 2 (5.4%) Visual Standards Enforcement 2 (5.4%) Yard Debris Removal 2 (5.4%) Misc 10 (27%)

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Preferences and Concerns

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0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

100%

<5 6 -10 11 - 25 25+

Would you like to have a continuing care retirement community in Flat Rock?

Yes No Not Sure

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Yes

No

Not Sure

Would you like to have a continuing care retirement community in Flat Rock?

65+ <65

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0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

<65 65+ <5 6 -10 11 - 25 25+

Should AirBnB, or other short term rentals, be regulated by the Village?

Yes No Not Sure

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Total Comments – Other Issues 99 of 580 (17.1%) No bikes 6 (6.1%) Keep village character 10 (10.1%) Need bike lanes 5 (5.1%) Need road modernization 4 (4%) Need sidewalks 6 (6.1%) No roundabouts 2 (2%) Shoulder repairs 18 (18.2%) Traffic 4 (4%) Traffic law enforcement 9 (9.1%) Truck traffic 4 (4%) Misc 22 (22%)

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Comments from 250 of 580 (43.1%) Intersections Count Locations Count Roads Count Greenville Highway Bonclarken 2 Post Office 13 Highland Lake Rd 10 Boyd 3 Honey & Salt 8 Rutledge 25 Blue Ridge 41 Wrinkled Egg 11 35 Erkwood 2 St John's 7 Highland Lake Rd 23 Flat Rock Park 19 Highland Park 3 Village shops 2 Little River 22 Bakery 10 Rutledge 31 Sandburg 6

Shepherd 4

Several people mentioned that truck delivery and customer parking on 225 at the bakery, Honey & Salt and Wrinkled Egg created dangerous conditions

Upward 5 Spartanburg Highway Greenville Hwy 3 Highland Lake Rd 1 Rutledge 1 Upward 3 Little River Kanuga 4 Rutledge 4 Pleasant Hill Dr 1 Erkwood Rutledge 5 Kanuga 11

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Total Comments – If yes, briefly describe 205 of 580 (35.3%) No Highland Lake Rd 21 (10.2%) Highland Lake Rd 12 (5.9%) Do not widen 25 (12.2%) Widen 28 (13.7%) Need sidewalks, bike lanes 33 (16.1%) Paving, resurfacing 20 (9.8%) Shoulder repairs 22 (10.7%) Rutledge 41 (20%) Kanuga 10 (4.9%) West Blue Ridge 12 (5.9%) Greenville Hwy 12 (5.9%) Little River 11 (5.4%) Railroad crossings 5 (2.4%) Erkwood 9 (4.5%) Flat Rock Park entrance 5 (2.4%) Misc 26 (12.68%)

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

<65 65+ <5 5 -10 11 - 25 25+

Road improvements that Henderson TAC and VFR should consider?

Yes No Not sure

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Total Comments 127 of 580 (21.8%) Connect amenities 54 (42.5%) Greenville Highway 23 (18.1%) Everywhere 16 (12.6%) Railroad line 2 (1.5%)

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Village Center only 3 (2.3%) Residential connections 11 (8.6%) Nowhere 7 (5.5%) Misc 11 (8.6%)

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0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

<65 65+ <5 6 -10 11 - 25 25+

Should Village funds be used to pay for multi-use paths?

Yes No Not Sure

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Total Comments 55 of 508 (10.8%) Mobile Home Park (Rutledge) 23 (41.8%) Everywhere 10 (18%) Kenmure 3 (5.5.%) Flat Rock Park 2 (3.6%) Twin Lakes 2 (3.6%) Unspecified 16 (29%)

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Total Comments 36 of 580 (6.5%) Rural Area / Natural Beauty 11 (31%) Small Town / Low Density 7 (18%) Other 19 (53%)

Q26 Any other comments

Total Comments 176 of 609 (28.8%) Maintain small town atmosphere 37 (21%) Do not widen roads 26 (14.7%) Improve fiscal responsibility and transparency 19 (10.8%) Better internet service providers 3 (1.7%)

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More parks and rec amenities 9 (5%) Dog park needed 6 (3.4%) Parks and Rec are too expensive 10 (5.7%) Expansion is to be embraced; smart policies needed 9 (5%) Support for road widening 7 (4%) Thank you for this opportunity 14 (8%) Misc 37 (21%)

Comparison with Previous Surveys Citizens were previously surveyed in 1997, 2004, and 2010 (parks and recreation focus). Some questions were carried over from previous surveys and the similarities and differences are summarized as follows:

2004 Survey Similarities and Differences

• Most people have lived in VFR for 11 to 24 years, but there was an increase in the number of people who have lived in the village for more than 25 years (from 9% to 19%).

• Most people taking the surveys lived in Kenmure. • Most people lived in 1-2 person households (86% in 2004 to 85% in 2019). • In 2004, only 18% were in favor of hiring law enforcement. This increased to 43% in 2019 (using

village funds to provide police services). The 2004 survey asked this question in relation to improving traffic enforcement, which may account for some of the difference.

• People had similar preferences for large-lot single family residential development (94% in 2004 to 89% in 2019). However, there was a slightly higher preference for clustered development (46% to 57%), and overall increase in preference for condos (21% to 38%), townhouses (19% to 39%), and apartments (7% to 17%).

• Sentiments about commercial development shifted in two categories (about right 64% to 78% and too much (23% to 11%), but was similar with respect to more needed (13% to 12%).

• There were new options for concerns about major roads in 2019, but there were similarities across common categories: lack of left turn lanes (22% to 21%), pedestrian safety (33% to 35%), preservation of visual quality (58% to 47%), speeding (51% to 41% ), and truck traffic (47% to 45%).

• As far as multi-use paths, people were split 50-50 in 2004 as to whether more were needed in the village. The current survey added “not sure” has an option (14%), and the no responses slightly outweighed the yes responses (44% to 41%).

2010 Survey Similarities and Differences

The 2010 survey primarily focused on park and recreation services and there were no duplicate questions in the 2019 survey; however, some parallels can be drawn. Most of the 205 respondents (66%) felt that parks were important to the quality of life in Flat Rock. In 2019, 79% ranked recreation opportunities as somewhat or very important as a reason to live in Flat Rock. In 2010, 70% felt that creating, improving and maintaining park facilities were an appropriate government expenditure, and in 2019, the quality of the parks and recreation facilities received the highest level of satisfaction across the village services listed (63.85% very satisfied, and 24.32% satisfied).

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Appendix A – Additional Demographic Analysis and Information The following demographic reports were generated using Esri’s Community Analyst.

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november 14, 20199d37d958-4706-405… · the survey was launched in the september 2019 vfr...

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