San Fernando signs sent back for redesign

CITY HALL — The final phase of a $2.2-million cosmetic upgrade for a portion of San Fernando Road hit a snag Tuesday after the City Council voted to have city planners return with revised concepts for decorative street signs.

The signs are part of the third phase of a beautification project along the road between Grandview and Goodwin avenues that was significantly reduced in size and scope after years of negotiations with utility companies that own a part of the right-of-way along the railroad.

Metrolink and county transportation officials — together with representatives for Sprint, AT&T and Verizon — blocked use of their right-of-ways for fear that the landscaping would interfere with railway safety and the integrity of underground fiber-optic cables.

That cut 4 feet off the depth of the original landscape plan, forcing the greenery within the city’s own 3.5-foot right-of-way along San Fernando Road. City engineers and planners had to redesign the decorative signs — to be placed on the west side of San Fernando at its intersection with each street within the project area — to fit inside the narrowed landscaping.

But on Tuesday, the City Council postponed a final vote on what those signs will look like to give planners more time to develop and design more suitable options.

Part of the issue was in the presentation of the four options, which ranged from 12-foot-wide concrete and stucco-finished panels to a three-sided street name sign atop a single post. Council members said the simple black-and-white line drawings of the designs did not give an adequate sense of what they would look like.

Without more detailed drawings, Councilman John Drayman said he was hesitant to cast a vote, “especially when it directly impacts those streets, and it’s something we’re going to be looking at for a long time.”

Redevelopment and engineering staff members were directed to return to the council on Jan. 29 with variations on the three-sided, single-pole option — one that most mimics the retro-styled signs at the Glendale Train Station.

In doing so, engineers will meet with members of the Pelanconi Estates Homeowners Assn. to ensure the signs agree with neighborhood sentiment.

“We at least want something that’s attractive,” said Nancy Kubota, who sits on the board for the association. “This is our last shot.”

The city has been trying to fully implement the corridor’s improvement projects since 2001. The first two phases are complete, and work on the landscaping has already begun, city officials said.

In delaying a vote on the signs, City Council members made it clear that they wanted strong options readied for the January vote to keep the project’s delay as minimal as possible.

“Obviously, the sooner the better, because we’ve been dealing with this for years and years,” Mayor Ara Najarian said.