Pictured is a stretch of Berkshire Road in Kingston Township.
Gary Budzak | The Gazette
SUNBURY — A survey of Kingston Township residents reveals that people prefer the rural nature of where they live.
The survey was conducted last year but is helping guide the township’s current approach to governance.
Nearly 95% of the 330 people surveyed either strongly agreed (87.3%) or agreed (7.3%) with the statement, “I enjoy the rural character, small town feeling of our township, defined by low densities, agriculture, and undeveloped areas.” Nearly as many (88%) said they “prefer the lack of commercial areas in the township, and do not find it inconvenient to drive to Sunbury or Delaware to eat out or shop.”
“I am glad that our township has zoning to regulate development, growth, and land use” was agreed to by 93% of those surveyed. More than 90% of the residents who filled out the survey supported “the current minimum residential lot size as 1.951 acres in the Farm Residence District.” And more than 87% of those surveyed agreed that “I prefer single residential lots and smaller common access driveway subdivisions to larger, multiple lot subdivisions.”
In a show of consistency, the residents disagreed with the statement, “I support more Planned Residential District developments with 1/2-acre lots and 50% minimum open space” by a 2-1 margin. Also, more than 90% of people disagreed with the statement, “the township needs a variety of housing types, such as single-unit condos, duplex units, single/multistory apartments, cluster homes, attached/detached homes, common wall homes, etc.; many of these on lots smaller than 1/2-acre.”
Also, more than 73% disagreed that “county sewer service should be expanded throughout the township so commercial businesses and large, multiple-lot subdivisions can be built.”
An interesting question asked if “There are places in the township where there are too many driveways close to each other?” Nearly 55% said they neither agreed nor disagreed with the statement.
About 90% of the respondents either strongly agreed or agreed that “I prefer local, small government as opposed to bigger government with more services at a greater cost.” However, nearly 53% agreed that “active recreation facilities like bike and walking trails, baseball and soccer fields and other outdoor amenities should be constructed in our township.”
More than 92% agreed that “it is important to protect groundwater and manage stormwater drainage.” Nearly 80% said “cable and Internet service needs to be expanded to all areas of the township.” Just over 58% agreed that “natural gas service lines should be expanded to all areas of our township.”
More than 78% agreed that “I am concerned with the increased amount of traffic on the township roadways.” However, nearly 61% disagreed with the statement “the area surrounding the intersection of Interstate 71 and State Route 521 is a logical location for future commercial development, if and when an interchange is built.”
The SurveyMonkey survey had optional questions about age, number of people in the household and how long residents have lived in Kingston.
For more information, visit www.kingstontwp.org.
Assistant Editor Gary Budzak covers the eastern half of Delaware County and surrounding areas. He may be reached at [email protected].
