New public signs to help people find their way around Richmond are in the works.
While city council's feedback on designs was generally positive, Mayor Malcolm Brodie questioned why the city's tagline, "Island City, by Nature," was not included.
Coun. Andy Hobbs echoed Brodie's concerns about the missing tagline and the importance of it being on signage around, and especially at the entrance of the city, saying it's "our branding."
However, the city has received some "mixed qualitative feedback" about the tagline, said Jill Shirey, the city's manager of economic development.
"There was certainly support for the character of what is presented on the 'Island City by Nature,'" she told city council.
"There were also some concerns noted about potential cluttering or crowding of the signs."
She added there may be more community consultation on this aspect before the final signs are rolled out.
Richmond councillors were discussing the initial renderings of these wayfinding signs at Monday's general purposes committee meeting.
The purpose of directional signage and visual landmarks is to guide the public around the city to public attractions, places of special interest and the "best routes for moving through the city," according to a city staff report.
They were created with community input and focus on making it easier for both locals and visitors to navigate places such as parks, attractions and neighbourhoods.
One of the new recommended designs includes vertical ID sign poles lit up by colour LED lights.
Coun. Michael Wolfe asked whether the lights could potentially be changed based on different events happening, to which Shirey replied a full range of colours can be explored when the proposal moves forward.
There is no immediate budget estimate on the cost of the wayfinding strategy itself, as costs will be presented to city council for each project as they are brought forward.
Some of the funding will come from the hotel tax, with support from Tourism Richmond and the Richmond Hotel Association.
During the public engagement process, Richmond City Centre, Steveston and the entrances into Richmond were identified as the top three priority locations for new wayfinding signage.
If city council gives the green light at next Monday's council meeting, staff will start working on the first phase, likely in the city centre area, and come back to council with a detailed proposal to get it started.
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