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Progress made on Franklin Township signage project
Further progress on the Franklin Township signage project was presented by the Neighborhood Design Center (NDC) at the Feb. 3 Franklin Township trustees meeting.
The signage project is a joint community effort which stemmed from a land use plan adopted in 2009 – part of which called for neighborhood signage being installed to better enhance a sense of community pride within the residents and a public identity visible to those passing through.
“(Under) the Southwest Area Plan…one of the recommendations for building a strong sense of community was the installations of gateway signs,” Project Manager Ben Weiner said. “That was the recommendation of the plan. As part of the execution of the plan, the county commissioners graciously made available the design grant for townships that have recommendations in their plan.”
From the information garnered from the community, what residents liked best was the idea of a large stone slab being used for the gateways. This information was not only collected through the public meetings, but from online surveys gathered since last November.
According to NDC Executive Director Al Berthold, the communities preferred a large monolith in contrast to a material such as brick. Berthold added he would look at three tiers, noting potential sizes and costs, and see what is doable.
“Oh, it’ll be impressive,” Berthold said.
An alternative scheme was presented in the form of small metal signs that could be attached to already pre-existing Franklin County road signs. This method would prove less costly in terms of execution.
The wording of the gateway signs was a subject of debate within the audience – whether the larger billing on the proposed signage should say Franklin Township or Southwest.
One side of the debate reasoned that, because the project originated from the Southwest Area Plan and the signage will initially be aimed for the Southwestern portion of the township, that “Southwest” should be predominant. Others believed Franklin Township should be dominant, in part to preserve what is remaining of a township dwindling in size due to annexation and to strengthen the identity of Franklin Township.
“What’s important now is what the copy goes on. We can talk about what the copy says later,” Berthold said.
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