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Henderson residents select education as top priority in survey

Residents who took an online survey offered by the city of Henderson want schools and education to be the top priority as the city updates its comprehensive plan.

Schools and education were picked by 1,212 people, or 69 percent of respondents, according to the results. A total of 819 people, or 47 percent, chose health and well-being as the second-highest priority, and 735 people, or 42 percent, selected parks and open space as the third-highest priority.

The city offered the survey on its website from October through December 2015 to gather input for Henderson Strong, a planning document aimed at communicating the city's vision, long-term goals and objectives in terms of managing growth over the next 20 years. The document is in the process of being updated.

The survey, which drew 1,878 participants, was open to those who live and work in city limits and included two segments: one to name overall priorities and one to prioritize specific parts of the city.

The other overall priorities were economic competitiveness, picked by 630 participants; water conservation, selected by 574 people; aging neighborhoods, chosen by 485 respondents; housing choices, 425 participants; and transportation choices, 398 respondents.

City officials said there were no surprises regarding the results.

"I don't think we found anything shocking," said Brittany Markarian, the city's senior public engagement specialist. "We kind of knew what we expected to hear, but we wanted to go out to the residents and validate that."

Each segment of the survey also allowed participants to submit comments, which topped 500. For education, participants wanted more options for school choice, smaller classroom sizes, limitations on growth to address overcrowded schools and increased choice regarding charter schools, among others.

One way the city can address such issues is by planning, said Stephanie Garcia-Vause, community development and services department director.

"It all starts with where you locate them, how you locate them," Garcia-Vause said. "Do you have the right amenities around it? Do you have roadways on four sides? We can address traffic concerns, noise concerns, compatibility issues. It's really important for us to plan for schools."

As for specific areas of the city that residents said should be prioritized, the results were: downtown Henderson, 1,180 respondents; Boulder Highway Corridor, 938; Lake Mead Parkway, 837; St. Rose Parkway Corridor, 570; Southeast Henderson, 516; North Green Valley, 477; Galleria Drive Corridor, 462; and Sloan Canyon Gateway, 198.

Comments regarding downtown Henderson supported revitalization and improvement, the need for diversified businesses and improved transportation connectivity.

The city's Henderson Strong project began in late spring 2015 and is due to be completed by 2017. It is being created to work in conjunction with Southern Nevada Strong, a regional planning document that was completed in March 2015. Its implementation valleywide is being managed by the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada. All valley municipalities must have an updated, local comprehensive plan to tie into the regional document, Henderson officials said.

City officials said they plan to hold more public input sessions for Henderson Strong once the city digests the survey results.

"We are meeting with stakeholder groups and the advisory committee, and then we're going to take that back to the public for a second round of community outreach," Markarian said. "We're looking at March, April and May as a time frame."

To view survey results, visit tinyurl.com/hendersonstrongsurvey. For other additional information, visit hendersonstrong.org.

— To reach Henderson View reporter Cassandra Keenan, email ckeenan@viewnews.com or call 702-383-0278. Find her on Twitter: @CassandraKNews.

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