A New Road To a Welcome Sign

They've tried surveys and voting; amateurs and the pros; polls and, finally, just walking away for a while.

The road to finding a new welcome sign has been long and windy, and now community leaders are on a new path they think will finally get them there.

(For a look back at the process, see the Welcome Sign page.)

A new six-member committee, comprised of three representatives each from the two community groups who get to decide, begins meeting Saturday to settle on a new design. The first meeting, which is open to the public, is at 9:30 a.m. Saturday in the patio area, 13330 Paseo del Verano Norte.

"It's pretty clear that a lot of people are tired of the [process]," said Ed Muna, a Rancho Bernardo Community Council member who is on this new committee. "It is silly that it took so long. It's something we'll take care of. Hopefully, it'll be history before long."

It's been two years since the sign was destroyed. The steps along this new path haven't been fully defined yet: Will the committee begin with one of signs previously considered? Will they blend two or more ideas? Will they start from scratch?

"I think the final design will probably be something that maybe looks familiar but isn't either of the signs," Muna said, referring to the two different designs approved by the council and the Rancho Bernardo Planning Board that led to the current stalemate.

And then there's the question of what happens, again, if the two groups don't agree on the design.

For now, the new committee, called the Welcome Sign Review Group, is focused on one known factor: Everyone wants this over quickly.

Muna said some people think three or four meetings could be enough to settle on a new design, but no one can know for sure.

The group members:

From the Community Council:

• Ed Muna
• Estelle Wolf*
• Dick Katz*

From the Planning Board:

• Vicki Touchstone
• Eugenia Contratto
• John Woods

*Wolf and Katz also are members of the Planning Board.

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