RB Community Council Rejects MAD Welcome Sign Recommendation

The Rancho Bernardo Community Council on Wednesday rejected a subcommittee's welcome sign recommendation, with some members expressing support for a new option.

Council President Robin Kaufman called Wednesday's special meeting for a vote on a to move along a process that has dragged on for months. But amid a quick motion to approve the sign, a new design from the Refresh RB Committee was unofficially introduced for consideration.

Refresh RB, a volunteer committee created by Councilman Carl DeMaio to coordinate the sign project, met Tuesday to reconfigure its original recommendation after concerns from the RB Planning Board last month about the design's architectural soundness.

Frank Auwarter, the Council's representative on Refresh RB, passed around the new design, which addressed concerns about the roof, changed the sign wording from "Rancho Bernardo Welcomes You" to simply "Rancho Bernardo," and eliminated one of two RB logos included in previous designs. Travertine tile also was added along the bottom of the sign. Council members had mixed reactions to the design, with some considering the tile dated, and others objecting to the colored waves topping the sign, an element of previous contemporary options.

After seeing the new design, council members in a 9-2 vote rejected the MAD recommendation. In voting down the recommendation, members asked for Refresh RB to work with MAD to find a compromise. Some felt the newest design is taking the process in a different direction, rather than moving toward a middle ground between contemporary and traditional options. Others, however, thought Refresh RB had found a choice that would have broad appeal and possibly, finally bringing this decision to an end.

The RB Community Council is next scheduled to meet May 26. The RB Planning Board, which canceled its meeting this month and tabled Refresh RB's previous recommendation in April, is next scheduled to meet in June. The plan is for both groups to agree on one design.

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