A committee of residents is helping city officials generate
ideas for signs and other attractive features outlined in the 2004
Morgan Hill Downtown Plan.
Morgan Hill – A committee of residents is helping city officials generate ideas for signs and other attractive features outlined in the 2004 Morgan Hill Downtown Plan.
The information from a series of three public meetings – the first meeting was in January and the second meeting was held Monday – will go back to the city staff to craft a plan for the city council to consider. The plan will recommend a uniform approach to installing signs throughout downtown that direct residents and shoppers to businesses and restaurants, the Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce, the civic center and other destinations of interest.
Theresa Kiernan, director of the Morgan Hill Downtown Association, said well-coordinated and attractive business signs for pedestrians and drivers would boost downtown’s visual appeal.
“It’s just more attractive and appealing to folks to have all the signs look the same,” Kiernan said, using shopping malls as examples of well-signed areas. “The more uniform you are, the more attractive. It creates a sense of place.”
At the committee’s first meeting, a consultant went through photographs of signs in Morgan Hill and signs in other cities to see what the group liked best, said Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Dan Ehrler.
“Certainly the chamber has an interest in it,” Ehrler said. “It’s just a matter of helping people find places to shop and dine and helping those who aren’t familiar with Morgan Hill find their way around. And the signs will be very tasteful, legible and user friendly.”
There’s even talk of building archways over Monterey Road at Main and Dunne avenues, Kiernan said, to add to downtown’s flavor.
The Morgan Hill Downtown Plan suggests downtown’s signs should be different from those in other parts of the city by virtue of the area’s strong pedestrian orientation. Interesting and well-designed signs, the plan states, will add “visual richness” to the streets.
