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Visualization for Right-of-Way Acquisition

Appendix D. Example Property Owner Feedback Survey

INSTRUCTIONS: The cover letter below could be used as a guide to introduce a survey intended to collect feedback on the experience of showing property owners a visualization presentation.

[State] Department of Transportation
[Date]

Dear Property Owner:

You are receiving this letter because you were contacted at your home or business by a representative from the [Right of Way] office from [State] DOT. This meeting was regarding the agency's need to acquire private property for the upcoming [project].

[State] DOT would like to ensure that property owners have a clear understanding about the purchase of private property for Right-of-Way. [State] DOT is testing current methods of presentation tools to make it easier for a property owner to comprehend a proposed change. [State] DOT would like to continue to improve on our site visits and discussions with property owners.

Please respond to the enclosed survey so that [State] DOT can better serve the public (The survey could be made available online).

Please call if you have any questions.

Thank you,

[Name]

[State DOT contact name and contact number]

INSTRUCTIONS: The survey below could be used as a guide for developing your own feedback-collection survey.

State DOT Right of Way Representative Site Visit Survey

Please answer the following questions about the ROW staff visit to your home or business.

1. Please indicate if you had a DOT right of way representative visit you in the past year. If yes, during which month?
2. Please state if the DOT representative visited you about your home or business.
   1. Home
   2. Business
   3. Other, please state here
3. Please state if this is the first visit by a DOT representative?
   1. Yes
   2. If yes, how many visits have you received from a ROW representative?
   3. No
4. How well did you understand the impact to your land that will result from the DOT's planned right of way purchase after the visit?
   1. Not at all
   3. Neutral
   5. Completely
5. How did the representative communicate the project and the planned take to you? Circle all that apply.
   1. Aerial photos
   2. Plan drawings
   3. Site walk through
   4. 3-D physical model
   5. 3-D images on paper
   6. 3-D images on a computer
   7. Video played on a computer
   8. Other, please explain below
   9. Not sure
6. Did you feel that this method(s) was informative?
   1. Not at all
   3. Neutral
   5. Completely
7. How positive did you feel toward the DOT representative after the visit?
   1. Not positive
   3. Neutral
   5. Positive
      
8. What could the DOT representative do differently to improve future visits?
9. Please provide additional input about the visit to your home or business.

Thank you for your input on this survey. Your answers will inform [State] DOT of their current practices and inform our staff on how to improve on future site visits.

NOTE: The example survey above was adapted from a Mn/DOT survey that was offered to property owners after Mn/DOT made initial visits to the owners' places of residence or business. The Mn/DOT survey was distributed as part of a pilot project to assess the effectiveness of using visualization for ROW acquisition.