HomeMy WebLinkAbout10 - Citywide Wayfinding & Directional Signage ProgramCITY OF NEWPORT BEACH
CITY COUNCIL STAFF REPORT
Agenda Item No. 10
November 08, 2005
TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL
FROM: Community & Economic Development, Planning Department
George A. Berger, AICP, Program Manager
949/644 -3207. gaberger @city.newport - beach.ca.us
SUBJECT: Citywide Wayfinding & Directional Signage Program
ISSUE:
The City's design consultants will provide background and information on the ongoing
citywide Wayfinding & Directional Signage Program at this Study Session, in
anticipation of Council action to approve the final project designs at a subsequent date.
RECOMMENDATION:
Receive and File.
DISCUSSION:
The citywide Wayfinding and Directional Signage Program stems from calls from the
City Council and its Economic Development Committee —and various Council -
commissioned studies, General Plan amendments and Specific Plans —to provide a
coordinated, aesthetically - appealing citywide directional sign program. Following a
Request for Proposals circulated nationally during the autumn of 2001, the EDC
recommended one of the nation's leading signage and environmental graphics firms—
the Pasadena, California firm of Hunt Design Associates —to provide professional
assistance for a project that would lead from initial design work with a citizen /business
subcommittee through approval by the City Council and fabrication /installation.
The project includes signage that will be visually - accessible to visitors and residents
alike, allowing people to navigate the City's streets and public areas with increased
ease and confidence. (A more in -depth description of what "wayfinding signage" is, and
how the City's program should function, is be /ow.) The consultant's work has
incorporated planning and graphic design services, a public input mechanism featuring
Citywide Wayfinding & Directional Signage
City Council Study Session
November 8, 2005
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a number of meetings with the public and its leaders to build consensus on which of the
City's significant icons and commercial and residential destinations should be included,
and meetings with various City staff to review and approve design, locational and
installation issues in accordance with state and local regulations.
A small committee of stakeholders representing the most visible communities and "user
groups" within Newport Beach was established to advise staff and the consultants on
issues of programming, design and signage location. Area - specific business
associations, the Chamber of Commerce, Conference and Visitors Bureau, The Irvine
Company, Economic Development Committee members, City Council and City staff
from various departments were all represented, as were the City's residents. Their input
was crucial to this effort, and the major design elements all stemmed from committee -
initiated concepts. The EDC, which championed the program initially, has also been
briefed periodically as various projects have suffered minor setbacks or moved forward.
Although this program has been a long- running one —the initial City Council meeting to
outline the project's scope and budget occurred in November, 2001; with the Council's
initial conceptual approval of the initial designs in Study Session in July, 2002 —there
have been various individual projects within it that have seen success. An outline of the
program's chronology is attached to this report. .
At the July, 2002 City Council study session, direction was given to staff and the
consultants to move forward through design development with the subcommittee, staff,
and others; initiate and install pilot projects where needed; and bring the final designs
back to Council at the appropriate time for approval prior to budget consideration.
Background
"Wayfinding" is defined as "a system of elements that helps people find their way safely
and comfortably through complex physical environments." No one can dispute that the
City of Newport Beach is just such a complex municipal environment, bisected as it is
by Upper Newport Bay, and by man -made and natural features alike. To assist with the
normal wayfinding that people do every day, many cities adopt "wayfinding and
directional signage programs' to provide a unified visual link throughout the jurisdiction.
In all cases the program should accomplish the following:
• assist residents, visitors and employees alike to navigate to and from destinations;
• enhance the City image as an accessible, attractive and active destination through
distinctive, helpful graphics;
• simplify traffic patterns by guiding drivers into, through, and out of the City along the
most convenient routes;
• help drivers locate and identify parking convenient to their final destination; and
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Citywide Wayfinding & Directional Signage
City Council Study Session
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• .clean up" the City's existing signage by redesign and/or removal wherever possible
and practical.
Additionally, the wayfinding and directional signage program for Newport Beach should:
• reflect the unique Newport Beach history and culture;
• provide the information people need to comfortably access Newport Beach's cultural
and civic attractions, its "villages," and its recreational and environmental
destinations;
• reduce resident and visitor anxieties about driving or walking in the City;
• make visitor experiences more memorable and provide a more hospitable visitor
environment;
• provide the information people need about public parking facilities; and
• develop a unique and sophisticated signage system, unifying the City's features
while maintaining the distinctiveness of its varied communities and villages.
There are three basic sign types in the City's program:
• City Entrance Signs – These are ground- mounted monument signs, located at the
major roadway entrances to the City. They are proposed to be similar in concept and
design, though somewhat larger, than the monument sign in front of City Hall.
• District Identification Signs – These may be either ground- mounted monument or
pole- mounted signs identifying one of the City's commercial villages. Most are likely
to be pole- mounted due to space considerations, but some —like Corona del Mar
and Mariners Mile —will be ground- mounted monuments. These signs would
typically be located on arterial roadway access points.
• Directional Signs – These are the pole- mounted oval- shaped directional signs
designed to provide motorists with directions to and from specific destinations, both
within and outside the City. As important as it is to direct visitors and residents to
areas within the community and particular destinations, it is also important to reduce
traffic congestion by guiding motorists efficiently out of (or through) the City if they
are venturing elsewhere.
At present, there are slated to be 6 City entrance signs, 13 district identification signs
(including both monument and pole- mounted signs), and roughly 85 directional signs;
although the number of each type of sign will vary as field conditions dictate or as new
destinations are deemed appropriate to be included or existing ones are removed from
consideration.
There is also a program element for the removal of existing signs that are no longer
useful.
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City Council Study Session
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Pilot Projects and Design Modifications
Since July of 2002, design development has moved forward toward final design, and
two pilot projects have been developed and tested. First, the directional signage
conceptual design was tested twice (in April and September of 2003) with full -scale
temporary mock -ups. Feedback was solicited from the Subcommittee, City Council
members and other members of the community —even the Daily Pilot provided
coverage of the story.
Then, in March, 2004, a City Hall sign was installed as a permanent mock -up for the
ground- mounted 'City entrance' sign, although the sign was scaled down somewhat to
be in scale with the building.
Finally, after determining that the City's utility poles could sufficiently handle wind load
of the signs, fourteen white -on -blue oval signs were installed on the Balboa Peninsula in
the summer of 2005 as a permanent pilot project for the directional sign element of the
program. The two pilot projects were designed as permanent tests of two of the
program's most important design features; the feedback staff and the consultants have
received has been important to allow the project to be tested for safety, design, and
cost - effectiveness.
Overall feedback about both the City Hall monument sign and the pole- mounted
directional signs has been positive. Most comments have been from individuals
relatively familiar with the project: City staff; Council members; Planning Commission
and Economic Development Committee members; as well as subcommittee members.
Feedback ranged from "make sure the 'blue' is dark enough" (the designers have
revised the color slightly to darken it); to "the letters aren't big enough to read easily"
(the design team has struggled with the letter size, font type and overall sign size to
address this —and the design team will present the most recent improvement at the
Study Session). Only a few comments have been negative; one individual noted that the
directional signs appeared to be too bright, and she compared them to the wayfinding
signs in proximity to Disneyland. Another initial comment was that the signs seemed to
be too large — although the individual also complained that they couldn't read the letters
very well.
That final comment has been the crucial one —the letter size and font on the directional
signs –and the design has been revised to incorporate a new lettering type, called
Clearview, recently adopted by the Federal Highway Administration. The design
consultants and staff will make a visual presentation of the design concepts that have
been established to date, along with changes in response to comments on the pilot
projects. The final designs of the ground- mounted monument -type and directional pole -
mounted signs will be presented at the study session for comment by the City Council,
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Citywide Wayfinding & Directional Signage
City Council Study Session
November 8, 2005
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in anticipation of future Council action to approve the program before the submittal of
anticipated budget numbers in the FY2006 -2007 budget.
Budgetary Considerations
The initial project received $82,500 in CIP funding during the FY2001 -2002 budget year;
and these encumbered funds have supported the project each year as the program
progresses. Additionally, General Services Department funds were used to pay
approximately $6,000 for the City Hall monument sign, which was installed as a 'pilot'
project for the City entrance sign design concept. Approximately $18,500 from the
Newport Blvd. /Balboa Blvd Merger "Mixmaster' project and other eligible funding
sources were used for fabrication and installation of the pole- mounted directional sign
pilot project.
As the project has moved forward, staff has more certainty of the itemized cost of
fabricating and installing the program's signs. Even though the costs are higher than the
pilot project costs indicate, the approximate cost for ground- mounted monument signs is
likely to be $8,000- 12,000 on average due to the larger size and breakaway design
(where applicable); while the cost - per -sign average for the pole- mounted signs (taking
both the larger and smaller signs into consideration) may average around $900- 1,200.
The project, however, requires quite a bit of pre - installation review in the field as
conditions vary considerably across the City; these conditions may result in fluctuations
in the cost for any particular sign.
Submitted by:
WON
..
-1 .
Attachment 1: Program Chronology
Prepared by:
S
ATTACHMENT
NEWPORT BEACH
CITYWIDE WAYFINDING & DIRECTIONAL SIGNAGE PROGRAM
CHRONOLOGY
11/13/01
City Council meeting to provide overview of initial scope of project and budgetary considerations
03/12/02
City Council Approval of PSA and Budget for Project
3/26/02
Kickoff meeting with consultant team from Hunt Design Associates, Inc.
6 /3 /02
Stakeholder meeting w/ City Staff and Signage Subcommittee
7/9/02
City Council Study Session to review and approve early conceptual designs
4/30/03
Subcommittee meeting to preview initial mock -up tests of Directional Signs at five locations
around the City
9/2/03
Subcommittee meeting to review revised mock -up directional signage
Dec '03
City gateway signs distributed to subcommittee for final review
Jan '04
City Hall sign development — based on City gateway sign design and pilot project for that design
March '04
City Hall sign installation
May'04
Review locations for directional signage pilot program — "Mixmaster" area
June'04 - Feb'05
Pilot Program — engineering/ wind load research and resolution of sign size and mounting height
June'05
Installation of 14 -sign pilot project on Balboa Peninsula
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