Poll: Growth a top concern
Meanwhile, property rights group wildly unsatisfied with questions asked
By Sandra Fish
Camera Staff Writer
Growth remains a top concern for Boulder County residents, who also oppose building homes in wildlife habitat, on ridge lines or steep slopes in the mountains, according to a survey released Thursday by the Boulder County Commissioners.
Meanwhile, a property rights group issued a scathing analysis of the poll, saying it was intended to "push" the 506 respondents into supporting restrictions on mountain building.
Among the findings of the survey conducted by Littleton-based The Public Information Corp.:
Forty-one percent listed growth management as the most important issue facing Boulder County; 8 percent listed it as the second-most important issue.
The second most important issue cited was transportation, including bad traffic and roads, with 13 percent mentioning it as the most important and 21 percent listing it as the second-most important issue.
About 80 percent of respondents agreed that county objectives for mountain growth should reduce impacts on wildlife, limit visual impacts on ridge lines, keep development away from wetlands or streams and limit scarring caused by roads for new houses.
When asked to consider mountain development from a landowners' rights perspective, 60 percent or more said houses shouldn't be located in wildlife habitat, on ridge lines or with a road that would create a scar. But 57 percent said a landowner should be allowed to build if neighbors think the size or appearance of the house is incompatible with others nearby. And 52 percent said a house should be built even if neighbors are concerned about its impact on their property or views.
The poll drew a random sample from Boulder County's voter registration list, with age, political affiliation and gender balanced to reflect the overall population of the list. It included 202 interviews with people in mountain areas, with the results weighted to reflect a proper balance between mountain and plains respondents.
The telephone poll conducted between June 9 and June 17 has a margin of error of 5.5 percent.
The poll also asked mountain residents if they'd favor creation of a special taxing district to buy potential building spaces so they wouldn't be developed. Depending on tax rates and the number of undeveloped lots that could be purchased, support for the idea among mountain residents ranged from 59 percent favoring a $50 annual tax on a $200,000 home to 70 percent favoring a $200 annual tax on a $200,000 home.
All respondents were asked about possible tax increases or extensions of existing taxes to buy more open space, with mostly favorable responses.
In a news release, the Land Use Coalition, a property rights group, criticized the poll as timed to "skew the Slope Advisory Committee's findings regarding mountain building." That committee advised the county to consider wildlife habitat, aesthetics and other factors in addition to the slope of the site when reviewing plans to build mountain homes.
"These questions read to me like, 'Do you agree or disagree with health objectives?'" said Ann Mygatt, a member of the coalition. "The results are meaningless because of the way they (the questions) were structured and the way they were asked."
The Land Use Coalition's consultant, while offering a detailed criticism of some questions in the poll, said he couldn't say whether the poll was trying to "push" a viewpoint as the coalition alleged.
"I know absolutely nothing about the politics," said Kevin Vryan, project manager for the Center for Survey Research at Indiana University.
Among Vryan's criticisms was one about the question asking respondents to consider the landowner rights point of view. "There's a bias indicated by that," he said. "You're not really getting objective data."
But Robert Tonsing, president of The Public Information Corp., said asking people to consider the property owners' viewpoint allowed a comparison with the previous opinion on mountain building.
"This question was asked hoping that people would look at it — and they did, too — from a 'if it were me' viewpoint," Tonsing said. "I know what a push poll is. I've done a push poll. This is no push poll."
County Commissioner Jana Mendez noted the criticism of the poll after hearing the results Thursday morning.
"There's always going to be people who find fault when a poll is done, but it's often people who don't agree with the results," she said. "Sometimes in the public debate we hear shrill voices on both sides and we don't hear the voice of the people who don't come to these meetings."
But, cautioned Tonsing, "Sometimes the minority is merely an emerging trend."
July 2, 1999
Copyright © 1999 The Daily Camera.
Reprinted with permission.
For more information contact the Land Use Coalition at info@landusecoalition.org or call 303-666-7903.
Last updated January 24, 2002.
URL: http://landusecoalition.org/dc_poll_article.htm
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