2007 Leeway Overlee Civic Association Survey Results February 23, 2009

The respondents appear very satisfied with trash collection, recycling, waste processing services, availability of special care services for the elderly and handicapped and library services. They were less satisfied with the availability of child care services in the area. There were no areas where the average score indicated extreme dissatisfaction. Individuals identified several areas of special needs that have not been addressed by the County which are contained in Attachment 1.

6. 
   Commercial/Business Area
   

This section of the survey included five questions. The first, question 26, is subdivided into 11 subquestions. Two fill-in questions were also included: results of these are located in Attachment 1.

In the first question in this section, the respondents assessed the degree of problem they had with 11 potentially problematic issues regarding the proximity of some residential areas of the conservation area to commercial development, particularly that along Lee Highway at Harrison Street. Respondents were asked to rank the issue in terms of “No Problem” (#1) to a “Big Problem” (#5): the higher the score the more of a problem this issue is for the resident. Average scores across all responses are reported in the table below.

Question #26
Rank the degree to which you experience problems with the following in the Lee Highway commercial area:	Average Ranking
Noise	2.1
Traffic	3
Bright Lights	1.9
Trash	2.1
Safety while walking	2.6
Safety while driving	2.6
Parking availability at stores	3
Commercial parking overflow into your neighborhood	1.7
General appearance of commercial area	2.8
Level of upkeep of commercial area	2.7
Ease of use (traffic, parking, walkability, etc.)	2.6

The least problematic issues ranked in the survey were: “Commercial parking overflow into your neighborhood”, “Bright Lights”, “Noise” and “Trash”. The most problematic issues ranked by the respondents were: “Parking availability at stores”, “General appearance of commercial area”, “Level of upkeep of commercial area”, “Safety while walking” and “Safety while driving”. Based on average scores, there were no issues considered “Big Problems” by all respondents.

The boundaries of the Leeway Overlee conservation area cover a large area, parts of which are closer to commercial areas than others. To determine if respondents living nearer to commercial areas were disproportionally experiencing more problems with the above issues, we analyzed the responses of four of the survey distribution routes that were adjacent to the commercial areas along Lee Highway (routes 29A, 29B, 20, 21B, 30A, 30B). Results are presented below, including average scores of those living in neighborhoods that are proximal to commercial areas and those not proximal to commercial areas.

Question #26 Rank the degree to which you experience problems with the following in the Lee Highway commercial area:
Commercial Area/Business Issue	Average Ranking	Neighborhoods Proximal to Commercial Areas	Neighborhoods NOT Proximal to Commercial Areas	Difference between Neighborhoods Proximal and Not Proximal to Commercial Areas
Noise	2.1	2.11	2.09	1%
Traffic	3	3.35	2.95	14%
Bright Lights	1.9	2.03	1.85	10%
Trash	2.1	2.29	2.05	12%
Safety while walking	2.6	2.5	2.69	-7%
Safety while driving	2.6	2.62	2.59	1%
Parking availability at stores	3	3.3	2.85	16%
Commercial parking overflow into your neighborhood	1.7	1.97	1.63	21%
General appearance of commercial area	2.8	2.92	2.73	7%
Level of upkeep of commercial area	2.7	2.89	2.67	8%
Ease of use (traffic, parking, walkability, etc.)	2.6	2.6	2.64	-2%
Total Number of Responses		397	1,228

The breakdown of results by proximity to commercial areas shows a difference in the pattern of responses. Significantly more individuals who live close to the commercial areas of the Leeway Overlee civic association experience more problems with traffic, bright lights, trash, parking and commercial parking overflow into their neighborhoods. In fact, when considering only those who live near a commercial area “Traffic” moves to the most problematic area of all the issues, at an average of 3.35 on a five-point scale. Individuals living further away from commercials ranked all issues lower than those living closer except for “Safety while walking and “Ease of use” of commercial areas.

Regarding the commercial area adjacent to some neighborhoods in the Leeway Overlee conservation area, the next two questions asked for 1) input on any business of concern and 2) queried about what kind of businesses would residents like to see added to the Lee Highway shopping area, results are in Attachment 1.
When asked if the County should develop a long-term plan for redevelopment of commercial property along Lee Highway 76% responded “Yes” (115/151); 11% (17/151) responded “No” and 13% (19/151) responded “Don’t know”. The majority of respondents clearly would like the county to move forward with a long-term development plan for Lee Highway.
When asked if developers of new commercial projects should be required to make financial contributions to a fund for traffic calming and pedestrian safety projects in the neighborhood 75% (110/146) of respondents responded “Yes”; 11% (16/146) responded “No”; and 14% (20/146) responded “Don’t know”. The preference of the majority of respondents of the survey is to require commercial developers to financially contribute to a fund for traffic calming and pedestrian safety in the neighborhood.

7. 
   Neighborhood/Historic Preservation
   

This section contained nine questions in which respondents were asked to rank on a scale from 1 to 5 (where 1 is “No Problem” and 5 is a “Big Problem”) issues which impacted them as a result of the increase in property values and more intensive development in the Leeway Overlee conservation area. The results averaged over all surveys are reported in the table below.

Neighborhood Issue	Average Ranking
Impact on privacy	2.3
Changing character of neighborhood	2.8
Parking/traffic issues	2.7
Loss of trees and natural landscape	3.3
Increasing taxes	2.5
Quality of life	2.4
Loss of diversity in our neighborhoods	2.5
Affordability	3.4
Water runoff/ soil erosion	2.9

The least problematic issues ranked in the survey was “Impact on privacy” and “quality of life”. All other categories were ranked as a modest problem: “Increasing taxes”, “Loss of diversity in our neighborhoods”, “Parking/traffic issues”, “Changing character of neighborhood”, “Water runoff/soil erosion” , “Loss of trees and natural landscape”, and “Affordability”. No categories were identified as a “Big problem” by respondents.

8. 
   Urban Forestry
   

This section contained three questions dealing with residents’ opinions on urban forestry policy issues.

When asked if trees should be planted on our streets whenever adequate tree planting space exists or can be created within the public right-of –way, 90% (137/152) responded “Yes”; 5% (7/152) responded “No” and 5% (8/152) responded “Don’t know”. Results indicate overwhelming support for tree planting whenever adequate space exists.
When asked if they favored a program to provide incentives for businesses to plant trees and other landscaping, 91% (137/151) of respondents responded “Yes”; 5% (7/151) responded “No”; and 5% (7/151) “Don’t know”.
When asked if they favored requirements for developers to replace the tree canopy that is destroyed with development projects, 94% (141/150) responded “Yes”; 3% (4/150) responded “No”; and 3% (5/150) responded “Don’t know”.
Responses to the battery of questions on Urban Forestry indicate strong support from the Leeway Overlee residents for replenishment of trees and the tree canopy that is destroyed during the development process.

9. 
   Your Comments
   

This section provided an opportunity for open comments, which are listed in Attachment 1.

Attachment 1
2007 Leeway Overlee Neighborhood Conservation Plan Survey Comments,

by Question Number

Background Information

I.1. Which category below best describes the type of housing in which you live?

Response category: “Other”:
No open-ended responses received.

General Neighborhood Conditions

Question #3: How would you rank the general physical condition of your neighborhood (including the state of the streets, sidewalks, houses, public property and private property)?

No sidewalks on N. Nottingham or North Madison Sts

Private property - most are kept nicely, but a few are totally unkempt. Public property is kept in good condition.

Street needs to be repaved

Question #4: Do you consider street parking to be a problem in your neighborhood?

As addressed in Question 4, the intersection of Lee Hwy and Nottingham is a problem - numerous total wrecks - including 2 I've seen since 9/06. Could be lower speed limit on Lee hwy?

Able to park.

Except at times in summer

It's available but the rental next door means 5 cars on the street for one house.

Not usually

II.5. If you consider parking in your neighborhood to be a problem, what are the causes:

Response catgetory: “Other”:

Overlee Community Association during swim meets

(Too Many Parking Restrictions): Don't have any presently. Need some.

boats, etc.

Parking_Problem_Other_Specify

Should be no parking from Lee Hwy to 24th St

Because of no curbing along greenway (John Marshall DR between 22nd Rd & 23rd) large parties in houses result in parking ON the greenway!

One-sided street only - probably unavoidable however

At the top of Madison closest to Lee Hwy. There are some rentals w/ groups of people living in the houses. Several times I have turned onto Madison off of Lee Hwy and almost hit cars that are parked right at the turn. There is a large tree at that corner and you cannot see anything until after you turn. Rentals on Madison St have too many renters and therefore, cars.

Near Overlee way community center

Q4. Nail salon employees park in front of houses on Madison

Rivendell School event parking

Parking on street to visit Post Office

Street is very narrow with a lot of cars

Street is too narrow and is not consistently wide - bottlenecks exist

Street in poor repair

Construction - Tearing down small houses and building McMansions

Overflow: Overlee pool

If problem, it is because danger to cars & people because of speeding on 26th St

Commercial vehicles parked on 24th block of Illinois (west side of street) make it difficult for drivers from 24th Street to see southbound traffic at 24th & Illinois

Group home - on a cul-de-sac - very limited parking! Too many group home workers' cars! Parking of commercial vehicles - ditto because of the above

We wish there were more parking available at EFC Metro

At times, there are so many cars on the street it is difficult to see turning from one street to another (comment after "Residents do not use their driveways"): or have enough off-street parking

Lee Center patrons who park poorly, block driveways, etc.

Only sometimes

BP Station parks cars they are working on & their tow truck on Jefferson St

Too many restrictions near East falls Church metro

We are on a cul de sac with limited parking area and the John Marshall south of 23rd street does not have curbs on the east side. Parties and swim meets are the problem.

We do have this -too many cars - on our street.

Renters

Question 5 Summary:
Consensus on the causes:

• 
  Overflow from neighborhood events (5 responses)
  
• 
  Rentals/group homes with multiple cars (4 responses)
  
• 
  Parking of commercial vehicles (3 responses)
  
• 
  Overflow from commercial/county properties (3 responses)
  

II.6. What areas of our neighborhood conservation district need improvements?

Responses:

Block Number/Cross Streets	Other (please specify)
22nd Street between Nottingham & Quantico	Street needs to be repaved
Not specified	Incomplete sidewalks
6100-6300 22nd Street	Paving
N Madison St from Lee Hwy to Reed School	No sidewalk
N Illinois from 22nd to 23rd	Sidewalk desperately needed for safety of children walking to/from bus stop at 22nd & Illinois
5500 block of 23rd St	See comment 3 below in Q8
22nd St between Quantico & Powhatan	Lots of trees as 22nd approaches Quantico, dark at night, need more street lights
5600 of N 24th ST (near N Kensington)	Manhole covers float away in heavy rains
5400 Block N 22nd St between Illinois & Harrison	Lack of curb & gutter
5421 N 23rd St	No sidewalks
between 23rd & 22nd St	No sidewalks
5300 N. 22nd	Debris, garbage, downed tree lines, etc. at Post Office property
N 23rd St	Need Sidewalks
2200/2300 Block N Powhatan St - 22nd Rd N to Lee Hwy	Missing walks
23rd St N 6200 Block - N. Powhatan St to N Quantico	Missing walks
2500 Block of Kensington between Lee & 25th Rd	This street needs re-paving
5400 block of N 22nd Rd	Road is falling apart
5400 Block N. 22nd St @ Harrison	Dangerous intersection
5400 N 22nd St blk - Illinois & 22nd to Lee Hwy	No sidewalks
23rd St between Quantico and Powhatan	Very dark - only 2 lights
23rd St. between Madison & Nottingham	Street needs repaving
Illinois between 22nd & 23rd	Road ruts
Illinois between Lee Hwy & 24th	Trash
24th - 5600 block	Road cuts
2400 block of Kensington	Recurring problem with sewer pipe
5600/5500 24th Street	Lack of sidewalk
2300 block of N Nottingham (between 23rd & Lee Hwy)	No sidewalk
N. Madison St 19th-23rd	No sidewalks
N. Nottingham St 19th-23rd	No sidewalks
Lee Highway (entire length within area)	Needs mowing & maintenance of grassy areas
N. 23rd St between Lexington & Nottingham	Needs paved. (Sidewalks would be a plus.)
22nd Street East of Lexington
5600-5900 Blocks of N 26th St	Sections w/out sidewalks
N. Kensington St from Lee Hwy to 25th Rd N	Street in dire need of paving
6000 block 22nd Road	Not enough shade trees near sidewalk
John Marshall - between 22nd Rd & Overlee Pool	Needs sidewalks on east side of street
John Marshall between 23rd St & 22nd Rd	Can we have a sidewalk there? Seems unfinished - sidewalk ends at Overlee
1900-2400 Lexington	Telephone poles in sidewalks. How do baby carriages get around some of these?
1900-2400 Nottingham	Telephone poles in sidewalks
5600 Lee Highway	Gas station with trash & old tires
Businesses on Lee Highway	They do not clean snow from sidewalks
6000 Block - N 23rd St	Need more lighting
Nottingham St between 22nd St & Lee Hwy	No sidewalk! Speeding!
Madison St between 22nd St & Lee Hwy	No sidewalk! Speeding!
5800 block of 23rd Rd between Madison & Lexington	Street has potholes
2300 & 2200 blks N Madison (Lee Hwy to 22nd St)	No sidewalks
John Marshall Dr between 22nd Rd & 23rd St	No curb/crumbling pavement ("alligatoring")
Corner of 23rd St & John Marshall Dr (northeast corner)	New style lighting is cycling on&off every 3-5 minutes
N. 22 Rd and Nottingham	The forsythia hedge needs to be trimmed away from the stop sign
23ed & Lexington	More lights - more sidewalks
2200 N. Lexington & Lee Hwy	Run-down community center facilities & property
Lee Hwy & Lexington	Lee Center Grounds
Madison St	4-way stops, speeding
Nottingham St	4-way stops, speeding
22nd St	4-way stops, speeding
Where 22nd Street curves to meet Kentucky	Needs sidewalks, needs lights
2200 Block of N. Madison Street	No curb gutter at N end
North Kentucky - 2200/2300	traffic too fast;
John Marshall from 22nd Road to 23rd Street	When they improved John Marshall between Lee Highway and 23rd they should have continued down to 22nd Road.
22nd Road	Street light doesn't add any beautification
2400 block Kensington, 24th Street to Lee Highway	Sidewalk problems. Need to complete sidewalk for safety reasons for Rivendell school children. Construction damage to street.
5600 block of 24th Street (Kensington to Illinois)	Construction damage to street
Madison St between 22nd and 23rd	No sidewalk
24th and Illinois	WE NEED SIDEWALKS!!!!
23rd and Madison	Potholes
23rd to Lee off Madison	narrow street by adding sidewalks
2400 and 2300 N. Illinois St.	Need sidewalk, speeding cars-need traffic circle or stop signs
5600 block N. 24th st.	Needs sidewalk!
5900 N 23rd St	Need repaving
2500 N Kenilworth	Need paving
Illinois and Lee HWY to Patrick Henry	Need speed bumps
Illinois and 22nd St	Road conditions
Illinois	Speeding