Email to the Largo Mayor and CommissionersGood evening commission, my name is Laurie Koehler and I am on the Rec, Parks and Arts Board. I was just at our meeting tonight and we discussed the new sign at the entrance to Largo Central Park. The first question that was brought up was "Who approved the sign?" "Who picked out the sign?" There were quite a few of us that thought the sign looked like it was a sign in front of a jail. Not a park. The sign is so very plain and basic. Why would we have a sign like that it in front of our beautiful park? It also is approximately six inches from the sidewalk and is blocking the view of incoming traffic when you are on Seminole Boulevard. Can you please tell me who designed this sign and who approved it. I would really like to know. This sign is not something I would like to see at an entrance to a beautiful park. Thank you for your response. Laurie Koehler
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Ms. Koehler: The following information is provided in response to your inquiry about the sign at Largo Central Park. The signs in question are new Largo Central Park signs placed along East Bay Drive and Seminole Boulevard as part of the Largo Central Park Plaza project. The concept for the plaza, inclusive of the signs, was developed by staff from Administration, Recreation, Parks and Arts, and Public Works. Ultimately, the plaza as constructed was one of several designs placed in front of the City Commission for consideration during work session. The signs were graphically depicted in a 3-d rendering of the plaza and were presented to the City Commission for both location and concept design. Ultimately, the Commission approved the plaza design with the signs as depicted. The placement of the signs is to achieve two purposes - provide signage to both East Bay Drive and Seminole Boulevard, and place the signs so that drivers would actually see them. The signs are not sized for pedestrian traffic, but are for the drivers of vehicles. For the signs to be visible to drivers, they are perpendicular to the two roadways. The sign on East Bay is visible to traffic going east and west, while the sign on Seminole is visible to traffic going north and south. The signs are in locations that minimize impacts to the sight triangle. Placing the signs closer to the intersection would interfere with a driver's view of pedestrians crossing East Bay Drive. If you have any other questions or need further clarification, please don't hesitate to contact this office or Parks Superintendent Greg Brown at gbrown@largo.com.
Shirley Frick
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