Dave Alley
GROVER BEACH, Calif. (KEYT) – The City of Grover Beach has released the results of a survey it holds every two years in an effort to gauge community opinions on key issues, satisfaction with city services and top priorities.
“The Grover Beach Community Survey helps guide our priorities and ensures we are responsive to resident feedback,” said Grover Beach Mayor Kassi Dee said in a statement. “We appreciate this valuable input and remain committed to transparency, strong customer service and thoughtful planning that reflect Grover Beach values.”
City Manager Matt Bronson indicated the survey is part of the city’s commitment to community engagement and outreach.
“One of the ways in which we do that is to do this community survey,” said Bronson. “It goes out to a snapshot of our of our residents. It’s a statistically valid survey. We get about 400 responses that match the demographics of the community, so it’s a very accurate snapshot of the Grover Beach community. We’ve been doing this survey since 2017 and every two years we get a chance to see how we move the needle from the last survey over time.”
According to the the city, questions were asked over the phone between Oct. 15 and 29, 2025. Specfiically, the city said residents were asked a series of questions regarding their viewpoints on key issues, their satisfaction with city services and quality of customer service, their ability to access information about services and events, potential revenue measures and more.
“We were very pleased with the results that indicated that there’s about 75% satisfaction rate with city services, and that’s really important for us in making sure we’re providing services that meet the community’s expectations and needs,” said Bronson. “We found that about 70% of residents think the quality of life in the community has gotten better over the last five years, or stayed the same, and 90% of residents are proud to live in Grover Beach.”
Numbers gathered identified the top three issues currently facing Grover Beach are: Transportation/Traffic/ Roads/Infrastructure (20.5%), Overpopulation/Controlling growth/Development (20.0%) and Housing Affordability (14.0%).
The three issues were nearly a total change from the top three listed by residents just two years ago, which were homelessness, traffic and public safety.
“Just right there, you see that there are some different thoughts and issues that are top of mind to residents in Grover Beach, and those are issues that our City Council, our city government is focused on right now,” said Bronson. “It’s important to hear where the community is on those issues to help identify some ways to address those issues and trends over time.”
Bronson pointed out that homelessness went from the top issue for residents during the last survey (21%), to ninth place (3%) in this most recent survey.
“It’s a significant issue in our communities, but we have put a major focus and emphasis on addressing homelessness through partnering with the Five Cities Homeless Coalition and two shelter facilities in Grover Beach, and addressing homeless encampments to make sure that we are keeping our public spaces safe and well maintained, and helping Five Cities Homeless Coalition with housing eviction programs to help prevent individuals from being evicted and to get them back into housing as quickly as possible,” said Bronson. “All those policy efforts are showing a meaningful difference. And reducing how homelessness is seen in our community.”
Police and fire earned high marks, with 90% of the respondents rating public safety in Grover Beach as good or fair.
“We’re really happy to see the results from the survey,” said Police Chief Jim Munro. “We put a lot of time and effort into making that connection with our community from all the different programs that we run and the proactive patrols that we run. Everything from the kids programs in the summertime to Grover Beach Night Out to our community academy, which we’re getting ready to open again this year. We have a true connection with the community. I think our community notice is that it helps us be a safer community and our officers do a great job out there as well.”
Concerns regarding overpopulation/controlling growth/development, which just missed out on ranking as the top issue by half a percent point, comes at the same time there has been dramatic construction of two high-rise residential buildings at the busy corner of Grand Avenue and 4th Street.
“It is a topic of community conversation right now,” said Bronson. “What is happening on the west end of our community along West Grand Avenue is redevelopment of spaces that were largely either vacant or underutilized. We had a vacant lot at the corner of 4th and Grand become a 40-unit mixed-use housing project called Palladium. We had a vacant building that’s been there for 20 years now redeveloped into a 60-unit mixed-use housing building called Encore at the North side of 4th and Grand. We’re seeing other developments up and down Grand Avenue. These developments are consistent with a vision that was identified by the community 20 years ago, but also put into motion by our West Grand Avenue master plan in 2011, our housing element in 2020, and the development code updates that were adopted by the council in 2022. All of these changes are essentially reflecting a community expectation around redeveloping West Grand Avenue for years to come. It’s just happening right now and it’s happening relatively quickly.”
Bronson acknowledged the two new mixed-use buildings have drawn strong reaction, both in support and in opposition, but says the city is experiencing the sames housing challenges currently happening in many neighboring communities and around the state.
“We see that there are mixed views use about development,” said Bronson. “Roughly half the community thinks there is too much development in Grover Beach right now. And the other half thinks there’s either just about right or too little development. That’s not a surprise to us and California development is a topic of community conversation. Every city in every county across our state. How we address that as a community, reflecting what is expected of us from the state in terms of housing laws and and housing production is a conversation we’re going to have at various levels with the City Council, the Planning Commission and with city staff.”
As for concerns regarding transportation/traffic/roads/infrastructure, Bronson also pointed out that issue has been and continues to be a top city priority.
“Grover Beach has been on a quest for many years to rebuild our city from the ground up and really from below the ground in terms of sewer lines and water lines,” said Bronson. “Street improvements have been a significant theme for of our city. We’ve repaired over 70% of local streets through the major K-14 street repair program since 2014. We are working on some major street improvements. Coming up on February 10th, we’ll be discussing street repairs with the City Council and get their direction on proceeding with the next major K-14 project, so infrastructure has been a major theme, a major area focus, one of those basics that people expect their local government to do.”
Grover Beach staff has recommended a similar survey should once again be conducted in 2027 to track “ongoing changes in perceptions and community priorities.”
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