Loudoun County residents are overwhelmingly concerned about the impact of development and support efforts to preserve quality of life, a recent poll said.
Mason-Dixon Polling & Research, an independent national polling firm, conducted the Journey Through Hallowed Ground Initiative voter survey of 400 Loudoun County residents from May 20-27. Funded by the Piedmont Environmental Council, the poll examined the public's attitudes toward their quality of life, threats to quality of life, potential solutions and local government.
Voicing the importance of agricultural preservation, residents stated that the quality of life has deteriorated as a result of growth and sprawl.
"The key issues are quality of life, local roads and taxes," said Robert Lazaro, the PEC's director of communications. "Does anyone honestly believe that traffic has gotten better or that taxes have gone down?"
Lazaro said that the survey is now public information and is intended to help public officials interact with their constituents and understand their concerns.
Supervisor Bruce Tulloch (R-Potomac) stressed the importance of managed growth to simultaneously maintain Loudoun's agricultural community and economic growth.
"We need infrastructure and roads now," Tulloch said. "We need Virginia to step up to the plate, recognize us as a growing county and invest in the economic engine."
It is time for straight talk about transportation and growth, Tulloch said.
"My constituents' quality of life is my quality of life," he said. "This is not a flip-a-switch and the problem is solved overnight kind of thing."
THE POLL RESULTS failed to surprise Larry Harris, a principal with Mason-Dixon Polling & Research.
"People are beginning to connect the dots politically," Harris said. "It is no surprise that residents want to preserve a battlefield and scenic vistas rather than create a Route 7 strip mall."
Loudoun County's explosive growth is hardly an isolated event, Harris said. "This is the No. 1 issue Ñ not education, not tax rates, not the issues that have been of historical significance to local government," Harris said. "You have the No. 1 growing county in the nation. You're in the top 10 for dirty air and the top 10 for worst traffic. It truly impacts quality of life."
Read the Journey Through Hallowed Ground voter survey on the Mason-Dixon Polling & Research Web site at www.hallowedground.org/pdfs/HallowedGroundPollReport1.3.pdf.