GULF SHORES, Ala. - Out of 410 Gulf Shores residents who responded to a 43-question city-sponsored phone survey, 374, or 91 percent, said they feel the city’s quality of life is either good or excellent.

  The results of the citizen survey, commissioned by the City of Gulf Shores and conducted by the University of South Alabama polling group, were revealed at Thursday night’s Town Hall meeting.

  Dennis Hatfield, chairman of the city’s Sustainable Growth Committee, offered a presentation highlighting the results to open Thursday’s meeting. Hatfield said he feels very positive about the results and how the survey was conducted.

  “Our goal was to be objective and acheive scientifically valid representation of the residents in the City of Gulf Shores, and provide meaningful feedback to city government,” he said.

  “One thing that I get from these results is that there’s a problem, or at least the perception of a problem, among residents that city leaders favor developers. It’s really up to the city as to what they do with the information. I really believe that we have results that can be trusted by residents and the city alike."

  Hatfield added that he personally feels city leaders have genuinely tried to balance development, but may need to do a better job communicating with residents on such matters.

  Councilman Philip Harris, who gave a presentation on the structure and functions of City Council, offered similiar sentiments concerning communication.

  “We really need to do a better job communicating to our citizens what’s going on. The survey is a really great tool and will hopefully help us focus and work on the issues that are most important to our citizens,” Harris said.

  “I think there’s always going to be resistance to development in any situation, hopefully better communication will ease most citizens’ concerns.”

  Mayor Billy Duke said he was surprised by some of the survey’s results while most turned out as he expected.

  “We’ll sift through this data and determine what steps we need to take to do a better job,” he said. “The results indicate to me that most citizens enjoy our quality of life. However, we can always take steps to improve and do better.

  “Everyone wants government to be accountable, listen to his or her needs, respond to those needs, and to provide things such as quality education. Citizens should expect these things and government should provide them.”

  While we’ve included items highlighted during Thursday night’s meeting, you can access the full 42-page report complied by Dr. Keith Nicholls, associate professor and director of USA Polling Group, by clicking here.

When asked to rate the importance of several issues regarding the area’s quality of life, respondents said the following factors were most important to them:

* Insuring gov’t accountability: 81%

* Controlling traffic: 80%

* Protecting environment: 78%

* Controlling development: 76%

* Improving education: 75%

* Providing affordable housing: 42%

* Develop public transportation: 41%

When asked if they agreed with statements concerning city representation, respondents said:

* 78%: city adequately represents developers

* 64%: city adequately represents business owners

* 54%: city adequately represents residents

* 57%: citizens have opportunity to give opinion on new developments

* 48%: adequate advanced notice about proposed developments

When asked if they agreed with certain statements, respondents gave the following breakdown:

Greatest Agreement

* 91%: Gulf Shores should be family oriented and has unique character that must be protected

* 89%: public beach is attractive and well maintained

* 89%: percent: safer cross walks are needed at the busiest intersections

* 88%: percent: area roads should be designed to accommodate walkers and bikers

* 87%: city should continue to provide comprehensive recycling

* 84%: city should acquire more open areas for public access and enjoyment

Moderate Agreement

* 78%: city roads are well maintained

* 74%: city should plan for acquisition of land for schools

* 70%: city projects look good

* 70%: city should prohibit large digital signs

* 66%: nothing larger than six stories in height

* 62%: city protects unique character and environment

* 62%: highway through state park is a good idea

* 60%: everyone should be off septic tanks

* 60%: city should do more to control color and style of new construction

Least Agreement

* 50%: zoning protects neighborhoods from incompatible development

* 46%: golf carts are OK on low speed limit streets

* 45%: city makes good decisions on development approvals

* 44%: city decisions on zoning and density preserve neighborhood character and environmentSurvey says: Life is good in Gulf Shores