Newport resigns to change

June Casagrande

NEWPORT BEACH--Gimmicky signs with splashy graphics are for wannabe

cities, not one of the most beautiful burgs in the world.

With that belief in mind, council members are looking for a solution

to a problem with city signs that varies from neighborhood to

neighborhood -- not enough signs in some areas, enough to constitute

“sign pollution” in other areas and a lack of uniformity throughout the

city.

But solutions are surprisingly complicated. Council members shot down

a $86,200 contract with Hunt Design Associates of Pasadena on Tuesday,

unable to agree that the city needs to rehaul the signs that direct

motorists and pedestrians to the beach, introduce the entrance to the

city and its communities, and direct residents and visitors to points of

interest.

“We have so many signs that are not coordinated in size, design,

etc.,” Assistant City Manager Sharon Wood said. “If we were more

user-friendly with our visitors, it would help us.”

But just hiring a design firm won’t cut it, members said, especially

when an issue of simple aesthetics cuts into more complicated issues,

such as traffic engineering and the legal liabilities that come with it.

“Roadway signage is serious business,” Mayor Gary Adams said.

He agreed that the city’s entry signs are, in Councilwoman Norma

Glover’s words, “cheap and chintzy.” But logos and eye-catching color

schemes aren’t the solution.

“My problem is with what I call gimmicky guide signs. The cities that

do this are wannabe cities,” Adams said.

So staff will go back to the drawing board to decide such things as

whether to hire a firm like Hunt to design signs and to locate places

where signs need to be removed, added or replaced.

Cost, of course, is a serious consideration. None of the more than a

dozen design firms that had a chance to bid on the job were willing to do

it for the $50,000 the city had set aside.

But if the council pays a firm $86,000 or more for basic consulting

and then has the city’s sign shop crank out the new product, which could

cost about $200 or more per sign, it could become an expensive

proposition.

And it’s definitely one that requires more thought, they agreed

unanimously Tuesday by voting to bring back a revised agenda item at a

future meeting.

* June Casagrande covers Newport Beach. She may be reached at (949)

574-4232 or by e-mail at o7 june.casagrande@latimes.comf7 .