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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 01-21-2010 - 6cORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: January 21, 2010 Action Agenda Item No. ~ - G SUBJECT: County Support for Town of Hillsborough Wayfinding Signage Plan DEPARTMENT: County Manager PUBLIC HEARING: (YIN) No ATTACHMENT(S): 12/29/09 Letter from Hillsborough Town Manager with Wayfinding Signage Plan Executive Summary and Financial Outlook fNFORMATION CONTACT: Frank Clifton, 245-2300 PURPOSE: To review and consider expressing support for the Town of Hillsborough's Wayfinding Signage Plan; and to consider a funding request from the Town to support implementation of the Plan. BACKGROUND: The governing boards for the Town of Hillsborough and Orange County, as well as their respective staffs, have previously discussed the need for navigational signage in downtown Hillsborough to direct the public to various government offices and other community amenities. The Town of Hillsborough recently completed a comprehensive Wayfinding Signage Plan for the entire town. Hillsborough Town Manager Eric Peterson sent the attached letter to the County regarding the completed Plan. An Executive Summary of the Plan and Financial Outlook were also included. In the letter, Mr. Peterson expresses the desire for the County to be an active participant in the Plan implementation, including providing $48,000 to support the proposed signage associated with County facilities. The total project cost for implementation of the entire Plan is estimated at $312,000. Staff suggests that the Board review and express support for the Town's Wayfinding Signage Plan and requests that the Board consider the $48,000 in funding support requested by the Town. FINANCIAL IMPACT: There is no cost associated with reviewing and expressing support for the Town of Hillsborough's Wayfinding Signage Plan. There is no County funding currently allocated to help support implementation of the Plan. RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends that the Board: 1) Review the Town of Hillsborough's Wayfinding Signage Plan as outlined in the attached materials; 2) Express the County's support for the Wayfinding Signage Town of Hillsborough for its work on the project; and 3) Authorize the Manager to send a letter of response to the County's support for the Plan and indicating that th Commissioners will include the funding request in its discussions with plans to allocate the requested fun discussions and decisions. Plan and thank the Town expressing the e County Board of FY 2010-11 budget ds subject to those Town of ills ~~~ December 29, 2009 Mr. Frank Clifton Orange County Manager P.O.Box 8181 Hillsborough, NC 27278 Dear Frank, Our respective board members have discussed the need for navigational signage in downtown for both visitors and government customers. The Town recently completed a comprehensive Wayfinding Sign Plan to cover all destinations within and near town. The full plan is available on our website using the following link http://www.ci.hillsborough.nc.us/content/wayfinding-si ngnage-plan . A summary of the document that details the overlapping interests of the Town and County is enclosed. A majority of the proximity and trailblazing signs have at least one Orange County facility listed and some are solely for County facilities. We are hopeful that Orange County will be able to participate in this important infrastructure improvement that will benefit its customers. Any assistance would be appreciated as the town intends to move forward with this project as soon as full funding is identified. The full project implementation contains many signs that are Hillsborough specific and the Town does not expect County participation in those aspects. The total project budget is estimated at $312,000 including funds already spent on design and funds that will be spent on fabrication and installation. The summary document shows a County contribution of approximately $48,000 to support the signage with County facilities. The Town is pursuing full implementation rather than a phased approach to provide maximum benefit and impact. This allows us to offer the County an option to make contributions over time to this important project. For example, if the County was interested in participating, it could make annual payments to the Town towards its portion of the signage over a five year period. Hopefully, spreading the cost out over time would make it easier to fund this project. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions, suggestions or would like to meet to discuss this concept further. Thank you for your consideration. Sincerely, fi'"~ - ~=~, ~ L_, Eric J. Peterson Town Manager Cc: Mayor Tom Stevens Hillsborough Town Board members 3 101 East Orange Street • P.O. Box 429 Hillsborough, North Carolina 27278 919-732-1270 Fax 919-644-2390 ®19D4 Twm of HiAsboragh Wayfinding Signage Plan: Executive Summary and Financial Outlook The WayfiriClirig Signage Plari is a signage plan aimed at helping visitors and residents easily locate key destinations through coordinated signage that enhances the environment and complements the character of Hillsborough. The purpose of the plan is to design, implement and maintain a system of destination and directional signage to help identify important attractions in Hillsborough. The coordinated sign system will connect the downtown historic district with the whole of town and will reflect the unique character and heritage of Hillsborough while helping to make Hillsborough more navigable for residents and visitors. The Wayfinding Signage Plan was developed by the Wayfinding Signage Task Force, Town of Hillsborough planning staff and the design consultant, Design Workshop. The task force includes representatives from the following important stakeholders: Alliance for Historic Hillsborough Hillsborough Board of Commissioners Chamber of Commerce Hillsborough Resident Churton Street Corridor Task Force Hillsborough Tourism Board Durham Technical Community College Orange County The Wayfiridlrig Signage DeSigri MariUal provides standards for exterior wayfinding signs and establishes a consistent and controlled sign program within the Town of Hillsborough. Uniform design, color, materials, logo, typography and size relationships will help to visually improve the town. The design objective was to draw on the inspiration of the historic character, the environment and setting, and the architecture of Hillsborough to produce a signage system that is informative, attractive, expandable and compatible with the town's identity to aid in ushering the next chapter in Hillsborough's history. To the left are examples of the design scheme for the trailblazing and proximity signs. The Wayfiridlrig Signage Plari recommends the installation of 68 new signs, including directional signs, destination signs, parking icons, historic district signs, "welcome to" signs and informational pedestrian kiosks. It also recommends that Orange County and the N.C. DOT perform sign audits within Hillsborough's town limits and develop plans to coordinate signs, under their authority, with the wayfinding system. Forty-four directional signs will be installed along high-traffic corridors for enhanced visibility and high impact. Of these, 37 proximity signs will replace 29 existing uncoordinated signs. The new signs will advertize 26 additional destinations. Of the destinations identified 27% are Town of Hillsborough destinations, 46% are Orange County destinations, and 27% are non profit/other destinations. ~A Trailblazing Sign Proximity Sign The two public parking lots as well as the parking deck will also have new identification signs that are coordinated with the wayfinding system. Parking directional signs will be placed on proximity sign poles or on buildings, depending on location. Future directional and identification parking signs will use the same parking symbol. The Wayfinding Plan recommends that Orange County adopt the same parking symbol for County-owned public parking lots. Visitors to government offices and the courthouse as well as tourists and daily shoppers will benefit from well marked parking. There are two types of guide signs in the wayfinding system: destination and directional. Destination signage is located on individual sites to identify a particular building or group of buildings. The Wayfinding Signage Plan recommends destination signage only at buildings and sites that are owned and operated by the Town of Hillsborough. The plan recognizes that site signage should be developed by the entities that operate each destination, though coordination maybe useful in the future. The directional signs include trailblazing and proximity signs and guide visitors and citizens to key destinations. Directional signs are located in the right-of-way along streets and indicate when a turn is necessary. The Wayfinding Plan includes directional signage for 33 destinations. Some of those destinations are owned by Town of Hillsborough but many are not. Directional signage includes locations that are regularly accessed by the public and have been identified as key destinations by the task force. All destinations fall into the following three categories: Town of Hillsborough, Orange County, and non profit/other. Advertizing commercial enterprises on Wayfinding signage is prohibited. The following tables display the breakdown of destinations by ownership: Ownershi # of Destinations Tota133 Percenta a of Total Destinations Town of Hillsborou h 9 27% Oran a Coun 15 46°/o Non Profit Other 9 27% Destinations are indicated on a varying number of signs. Each sign may have between one and three panels. Each panel displays the name of one destination. The total number of panels for trailblazing and proximity signs are 111. The following table shows the breakdown of panels by ownership of destinations. Ownershi # of anels Total 111 Percenta a of Total Panels Town of Hillsborou h 33 30% Oran e Coun ' 44 40% Non Profit Other 34 30% Implemeritati0ri Of the Wayfiridlrig Plan depends on funding. Fabrication and installation of the signs can happen faster if financial resources are combined. The overall impact of a comprehensive signage system will be widespread and the effects will be positive for residents, downtown businesses, government employees, and visitors. The following list includes all destinations, organized by ownership, that are represented by directional signage in the Wayfinding Plan. Town of Hillsborough Orange Countv Non Profit/ Other Cates Creek Park Social Services Durham Technical Community College Cates Creek Greenway Health Department UNC Hospital (Future) Transit SportsPlex Historical Museum Historic Downtown Senior Center Burwell School Town Annex County Campus West HYAA Ball Fields Town Hall Campus Library Speedway Trail Police Substation Courthouse Visitor's Center Gold Park County Campus East Occoneechee Mountain Riverwalk Public Market House Train Station (Future) Occoneechee Village Link Center Board of Elections Fairview Park Whiffed Building The costs of developing and implementing the Wayfinding Signage Plan include design fees, fabrication, and installation. The Wayfinding Task Force and Town of Hillsborough Planning Department staff developed the plan in house, saving the costs of hiring a planning consultant. The total costs of funding the plan are $312,200, which includes $35,000 already paid to Design Workshop for design consultation and development of the design manual. The total costs for fabricating and installing the proximity and trailblazing signs are $151,000. The cost of proximity and trailblazing panels displaying an Orange County destination is $47,661. This figure does not include site signage at Orange County locations. The table below includes a breakdown of proximity and trailblazing panel costs in reference to Orange County destinations. All Trailblazin and Proximi Si ns Number Cost per Sign Installation Cost Total Cost Trailblazing Signs - Type B 7 $2,000 $1,000 $21,000 Proximity Signs - Type C Proximity Signs - Type D 18 19 $2,000 $3,000 $1,000 $1,000 $54,000 $76,000 Total Cost of Proximi and Trailblazin Si ns Panels S ecific to Oran a Coun Destinations # of OC Panels Cost per Panel Total Cost $151,000 Trailblazing Signs - Type B 7 $1,000 $7,000 Proximity Signs - Type C 18 $1,000 $18,000 Proximity Signs - Type D 17 $1,333 $22,661 Total Cost of Si n Panels with Oran a Coun Destinations $47,661 rn