Schools,
managed growth top priorities
Sales of alcohol,
real-estate sales tax draw support in poll
By Leslie Ellis
The Courier-Journal,
January 9, 2002
A majority of Oldham County residents say
maintaining school quality is their top priority, and they also favor adopting
growth-management tools, approving limited alcohol sales and enacting a new
real-estate tax if the money is used to ease the stress of development.
Those are some key findings of a poll that
the Oldham Ahead residents group commissioned to provide feedback to county
decision-makers on quality of life and land-use issues. Results were released
yesterday.
Horizon Research International of Louisville
surveyed 400 residents -- a mix of longtime and new residents with a variety of
incomes -- Nov. 15 through Dec. 4.
''The survey echoes the comments made by
Oldham County citizens while drafting goals and objectives for the comprehensive
plan,'' said Prewitt Lane, president of Oldham Ahead.
The results were released as officials
prepare to adopt a comprehensive land-use plan that links development with the
availability of services such as roads and schools. Officials also are wrestling
with school crowding and are considering a new real-estate-transfer tax.
The survey asked residents to rate nine
topics as extremely/very important, somewhat important or not very/not at all
important.
Maintaining the quality of public schools
proved to be the most important issue, with 92 percent of those polled saying it
is extremely or very important. (Eighty-three percent of those polled gave that
rating to school crowding.)
Other top issues are protecting property
rights, 86 percent; fighting crime and drugs, 83 percent; and managing growth,
81 percent.
In another part of the survey, 84 percent
favor giving planning and zoning and Fiscal Court authority to withhold or delay
proposed developments if nearby schools do not have room for the expected
students. The new comprehensive plan would tie development to school capacity,
but there's no plan or formula on how that would be done.
The poll results ''reinforce what we have
contended all along,'' said Oldham Schools Superintendent Blake Haselton. ''The
question is what is the solution?''
The survey also tested community opinion on
several proposals.
A petition is circulating in La Grange to
call for a ''moist'' vote to allow alcohol sales in restaurants that seat 100
people and derive 70 percent of revenue from food sales. The poll found 66
percent in support.
There was less support, but still 58 percent
in favor, of a ''wet'' vote that would allow wider alcohol sales.
County officials also are considering a
real-estate-transfer tax -- up to 1 percent on the sale price of property -- if
legislation allowing it is presented to the General Assembly and approved.
The poll found 75 percent would support such
a tax if the money were used for schools, roads and utilities. Sixty-six percent
favored it if the money went to compensate land owners who agreed not to develop
their land, and 63 percent approved if the money is used to acquire parks and
open space.
If the revenue isn't earmarked for a specific
purpose, support falls to 43 percent.
The county also is considering building a
park with equestrian facilities and a conservation area, an idea favored by 75
percent.
While the county recently decided not to do
its own air-quality testing, 92 percent favor comprehensive air and
water-quality monitoring.
Growth was a big focus of the survey.
Residential growth is happening too fast, according to 70 percent of those
polled. Twenty-eight percent said it is occurring at the right pace.
Commercial growth has become an issue because
many local leaders say it's needed to bring in more tax money. Thirty-nine
percent of those polled said commercial growth is too slow, compared with 45
percent who said it is going at the right pace and 16 percent who said it is too
fast.
The poll shows that residents favor the
recruiting of university or technical schools, software companies, corporate
headquarters, telecommunications service centers and distribution centers. The
majority oppose heavy manufacturing or chemical-processing operations.
Asked to choose an approach for handling
growth, 62 percent said growth should continue only if the services are in place
to handle it. And 18 percent favor slowing residential growth, but accelerating
commercial and industrial growth. Thirteen percent favor following current
practices, and 7 percent wanted to stop growth.
Asking developers and builders to bear a
''reasonable'' share of the costs of additional infrastructure is favored by 87
percent of those polled.
Of nine goals for land-use planning,
respecting property rights drew the strongest support, with 91 percent saying it
is very or extremely important. That was followed closely by 89 percent who said
the same for protecting home values. Providing affordable housing drew the least
support, with 45 percent saying it is very or extremely important.
County Planning Administrator Jim Urban said
it was interesting to see strong support for preserving property rights at the
same time there is strong support for establishing areas for green space and
farming that would be off-limits to developers, a move some say would deny
people their right to do what they want with their land.