Oh my gawd...We have higher standards than OKC

[Easy180]

Probably could have been said a tad bit better..Comes across as quite the douchey statement

http://m.newsok.com/s?s=16&a=3497109&f=news



EDMOND — Former Mayor Saundra Naifeh said she doesn't want electronic signs in Edmond.

"I am not afraid of us looking like Las Vegas," Naifeh said. "I am afraid of us looking like Oklahoma City. We have a higher standard.

"We spend a lot on landscaping. We put a lot into the aesthetics in Edmond."

Naifeh and six other Edmond residents have been working for the past two months to revise Edmond's sign ordinance. Electronic message signs are not allowed in Edmond at this time.

Naifeh is in the minority among her fellow committee members. Chairman Chris Palmer this week polled the committee for their opinions.

Most committee members spoke in favor of the electronic signs, but wanted there to be restrictions on size, motion and brightness.

Committee member Mark Schweighart said, "I think we can craft this so it will be done well."

[bluedogok]

I guess she would like the sign ordinance in Lakeway, it is ridiculously small. A maximum of 24 sf total and no wider than 16ft long for building signage and a total of 40 sf on a monument sign, that is total added together if you have a double sided sign. There are also restrictions on colors and materials and landscaping requirements for signage. I know our property owner was not happy at all about how small the signage is and they are on one of the two major roads through there, the signage for other ares is less than those two roads.

[stlokc]

I wish more communities embraced tougher asthetic standards. Visual clutter really cheapens the look of a place and can hasten it's decline. As long as everybody plays by the same rules so that it's not discriminatory, I see nothing wrong with sign height and lanscaping restrictions.

[bluedogok]

They can get extreme and ridiculous like those in Lakeway...especially when a building was built just a few years ago before the current standards were put into place and even their signs are not big compared to the other surrounding communities. I also don't like those communities (and HOA's) that want everything to look the same, the "sameness" is downright bland to me.

[fuzzytoad]

Edmond aesthetics : The “Puffed-Up Prince” frog statue



The end....

[stlokc]

I don't know anything about Lakeway. I don't even know where it is. I do know that St. Louis has a crazy patchwork quilt of suburban communities. Some of them have beautifully lanscaped plazas, subtle signage, and restrictions on types of building materials. Others embrace an "anything goes" mentality. Care to hazard a guess on which have the lowest commercial vacancy rates, and which the highest? It doesn't have to be "bland" if it's done right. It can look classy. You'll notice this thread is in the suburban section of the site, not the downtown section.
One other thing: when they built the shopping center at 122nd and May (where Homeland is), a family friend opened a business there. At the time you couldn't even put a sign in a window. It was a very nice center. Today it looks crummy. I have often thought if May Avenue between 63rd and Memorial had some tougher standards, it wouldn't look so tired and past it's prime. But I think this extends to lots of bigger topics,like wheatfields way north where metal self-storage places and ubiquitious Sonics have cropped up. The suburbs are going to grow, they are even going to sprawl, but it's not written in stone that it has to be ugly when it does it. (I know, off topic. Sorry.)

[stlokc]

I think the "puffed up frog statue" is hilarious, and quirky. There's no reason public art can't factor into the discussion. That type of thing is certainly not "bland."

[krisb]

Higher standards than OKC...not when it comes to public art. Plus, I'll take OKC's seedy urbanism over Edmond's superficial perfection any day. Can Edmond duplicate Heritage Hills, Mesta Park, or Crown Heights?

[stlokc]

No it can't. That's why many of us (myself included) prefer OKC to Edmond. Edmond is what it is. It's trying to be a nice, upper middle class suburb. It's not in the market to compete with the wonderful eclectic nature of an older neighborhood. But at the same time, if you think the homeowners in Crown Heights or Heritage Hills would stand for huge electronic signs in their neighborhoods, you're crazy.

[krisb]

Nor does OKC allow such signs in ANY residential neighborhoods.

[hipsterdoofus]

I think that Edmond needs to revise ordinances as technology changes - at least in regards to the signs; however, I sure don't want us to end up looking like Midwest City either - no offense to the city itself, but you drive through parts of that city and its just sign after sign about 20 feet tall - looks terrible. I think in Edmond they are better off having a tough ordinance and gradually easing up on it than relaxing it too much and then trying to toughen it up. I live in Edmond and don't mind the ordinance, although I'm sure it is a pain for businesses..

[jdcf]

As a former but long-time resident of Edmond, I endorse the strict ordinances and the public art. Although we prefer living in OKC for many reasons, we greatly miss those particular aspects of Edmond. I commend the former mayor and those councils.

[Easy180]

I don't have a problem at all with having strict ordinances...Just thought the way she worded it came across as snobby

[hipsterdoofus]

I'm not real big on the art...sometimes I think its trying to force something in there - it comes across that they are trying to manufacture an atmosphere - not that I think public art is necessarily bad - but throwing out random things suddenly doesn't seem the way to do it...

[OkieHornet]

I'm not real big on the art...sometimes I think its trying to force something in there - it comes across that they are trying to manufacture an atmosphere - not that I think public art is necessarily bad - but throwing out random things suddenly doesn't seem the way to do it...

especially when they're on every corner in downtown edmond...

[bluedogok]

I don't know anything about Lakeway. I don't even know where it is.

It is a Lake Travis area suburb of Austin. Originally founded as a resort community, there are some ridiculous restrictions and strange hoops you have to jump through to do projects there. We are just wrapping up a project there, I think the grand opening was supposed to be last weekend.

I don't have a problem with some minimal level of standards, it is just when they get to the point of making everything look the same (like Overland Park did for awhile) they are just extreme. Having done a couple of projects in Edmond the restrictions they had 10 years ago weren't too bad compared to some jurisdictions that I have had projects in.

[Vegan]

Personally, I think that the huge number of traffic lights that litter the streets do not do much for Edmond's visual appeal.

[fuzzytoad]

Personally, I think that the huge number of traffic lights that litter the streets do not do much for Edmond's visual appeal.

good point...

[hipsterdoofus]

Personally, I think that the huge number of traffic lights that litter the streets do not do much for Edmond's visual appeal.

The traffic lights don't concern me as far as visual appear near as much as how it seems to be the only way they know how to attempt to "fix" traffic problems - I think thats what probably makes you mad too if you are honest...actually in some parts of they city they use the decorative posts and such for traffic lights and they don't LOOK terrible - still doesn't mean I like them.