Re: Big Blue Sign Removal Information Thread
What did they say at the meeting???
What did they say at the meeting???
New big blue signs in SoWal
- Thread starter shesgottasurf
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That is the next step. All of the developers of Rosemary, St. Joe, Rosemary and Alys Beach have already written the TDC board with letters asking the signs be taken down. I would imagine Seaside and Watercolor would have the option to have them or not since a precedence was set in Rosemary Beach. The only TDC board member who agrees with us is Ken Gifford who works for the Rosemary Beach Development. He requested they not be placed in Rosemary Beach because they did not fit the look of the town. He was the lone voice on the TDC in favor of not having the signs. If Rod Wilson of St. Joe and Robert Davis of Seaside ask they be taken down, I don't see how the TDC can deny them that option; it was afforded Ken Gifford and Jason Comer of Alys Beach.
Thanks to all who showed up at the meeting and by the way, we lost no battle this morning. We were fair and firm and basically derailed the TDC's effort to push this thing along by planting some shrubbery and lowering some of the signs. The TDC board tried to limit discussion from the public to a few people and of course that did not work. Several people spoke out. I especially loved Ed Walborsky's comment. I almost fell out of my chair when he said " you can put a bonnet on a pig, but it is still a pig".
The TDC board did agree by resolution to work with us and form a committee to work on redesign. One of the board members wanted to put language in the motion that said we would be working on modifying the existing signs and I asked that language be not included in the motion. This leaves any possibility open including full removal.
The next step is to contact anyone who does not like the signs to write the County Commissioners prior to the next BCC meeting . The Commissioners have final say on what the TDC does regarding this. We have to reach far and wide to our neighbors who own second homes here; send them photos of the signs. We need as many people as possible to send letters to the BCC asking that they be taken down.
The problem is that we have seem to have the support of Cindy Meadows and Sarah Commander but Commissioner, Scott Brannon is on the TDC board; I'll be calling him to get his position (he was conspicuously absent this morning.) I don't have a feel for the other Commissioners. Ed Walborski mentioned we might need to picket the TDC which is not a bad idea if it comes to it. I suggest waiting on that for now.
I want to clarify one comment I made to the effect that the TDC did this behind closed doors, whatever I said was a poor choice of words. What I said was meant to portray one thing. That the TDC only showed the public the sign design in the Defuniak-Herald Breeze newspaper in one issue. This is why no one saw the sign design in the first place. Upon making my clarification I told them hardly anyone south of the bay reads that Newspaper; distribution is poor as well. The sign plan was not noticed in the NW Fla Daily News, the Panama City News Herald or the Walton Sun. I strongly feel that is not adequate notice nor were there any public workshops as Claire Bannerman has done with the Scenic 30-A designation signs.
I want to clarify to all that the TDC board truly had gone through all the hoops with the BCC and working with the Dept. of Transportation and whatever else it took to get this project done. They have been working hard on this since 2003.
The bottom line is that we all agree that directional signs are good for the Scenic corridor. The only issue really is the design. The TDC truly had the best intentions and it is unfortunate we disagree on that one point. I am very hopeful we can resolve this in an amicable way so we may all move past this.
We really must notify anyone we can about this issue in order to prevail. Anyone I talk to agrees with us; we just have to inspire them into action.
Thank you Rapunzel for writing a very accurate portrayal of the meeting.
It was great meeting you all without your screen names.
To use an Obama'ism "YES WE CAN"!!!!
Thanks all!!
Dave
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Re: Big Blue Sign Removal Information Thread
we started this 7 years ago, we gave plenty of notice, where were you then?, why are you here now?, this is our plan to deal with the signs, you have 10 minutes total to speak, we'll set up a workshop, thanks kris titus, goodbye everybody.
we started this 7 years ago, we gave plenty of notice, where were you then?, why are you here now?, this is our plan to deal with the signs, you have 10 minutes total to speak, we'll set up a workshop, thanks kris titus, goodbye everybody.
FYI, the reason legals are published in the DeFuniak Herald is because it is the only paper that legally meets the state statuatory requirements, i.e. is actually published in Walton County. It would be very expensive for the county to pay for legals in four papers, the Herald plus the three others that are read around here, and even then, people who are frequently out of town would miss some issues. The Herald is widely available in SoWal - folks may not know that south of the bay, it is in the blue boxes with the Beach Breeze, its sister paper, on the top. Or if you don't want to buy it, the legals are online, or you can get a mail subscription if you don't want to go looking for it.
I want to mention that I read TooFarTampa's Letter to the TDC out loud in the meeting. I felt it was beautifully written and personified our cause perfectly. Thank you TFT!!
"The TDC board did agree by resolution to work with us and form a committee to work on redesign. One of the board members wanted to put language in the motion that said we would be working on modifying the existing signs and I asked that language be not included in the motion. This leaves any possibility open including full removal."
Dave, Thanks for clarifying the motion that was passed, I feel much better now about what was accomplished today.
Dave, Thanks for clarifying the motion that was passed, I feel much better now about what was accomplished today.
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Thanks rapunzel for the low-down from the meeting. Also thanks to Beach Runner for the BCC info. It seems nobody at the TDC I sent my email to read it. I also want to thank Ed Walborsky for laying down the challenge to the TDC. If ya'll need me to take off from work early and drive down to show up on a Saturday morning, I'll do it! Oh and btw: the concept of "branding" and the need for cohesiveness is just another term for homoginizing the area so it looks like any other coastal place. To paraphrase the observant citizen about calling a pig a pig, "You can dress it up and put lipstick on it, but it's still a big blue monster sign."
Well, I believe the word "notice" might me misconstrued here. I am assuming the TDC did more than post a notice in the paper. I believe, and I may be giving more credit than is due, that the TDC showed the design in an article, perhaps with photos or a drawing. That is the type of "notice" I was talking about. I don't think it was in a "legals" format. My beef is that the public was "informed" in a relatively obscure paper and only one paper at that.
yes, I hope they can use the signs on hwy 98, but the design is still horrid and I would not have chosen such for any road in SoWal. but if they MUST use them somewhere, then put 'em on 98 where they might be useful.
yeah baby!I want to mention that I read TooFarTampa's Letter to the TDC out loud in the meeting. I felt it was beautifully written and personified our cause perfectly. Thank you TFT!!
thank you TFT!!! and thanks to all who went to the meeting this morning. we appreciate you!!!
thanks so much Dave for all your effort. please keep us informed.
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I bit my lip when one of the TDC board members brought up the word "branding". I almost said if the signs don't come down we will all feel like a steer after being branded. I suppose that is the origin of the word.