The Community Survey results are in! We received 339 survey responses and 85% were from residents in Douglas County. Follow this link to a summary document. But a few key highlights are shared below.
Based on survey responses, Douglas County residents would like to see more opportunities for things to do in the community. This echoes comments about having to travel outside of Douglas County for shopping, dining and other amenities. A similar percent indicated that they would like to see us invest in parks, trails and open space, which provide opportunities to connect to nature and appreciate the rural aspects of the county.
The desire to limit additional industrial development which may produce heavy truck traffic was consistent. Updates to the Character Areas and Future Land Use Map will contemplate containing current locations to their existing footprints and limiting new employment areas to uses that are less intensive.
Housing is an area where we see more diversity of responses. The community is generally split fairly evenly on whether to encourage more diversity of housing options.
Further questions to explore this issue suggest that the preference for single-family detached housing with a smaller footprint may be an appropriate compromise. Similarly, housing options that will allow young people to affordably settle in Douglas County and older residents to age in place are desirable.
Overall, respondents are favorable to improving community aesthetics through improved architecture and landscape guidelines. Systematic code enforcement can also improve elements of the built environment in established areas.
A summary of key takeaways is available here, and the full document can be found on the project website or at this link.