Nicole Claire Carson

Period 2 American Government

Due: 12/5/2014
City Council Meeting Write Up: #2

I attended my second city planning meeting with a group of about 13

students. The first topic that they discussed was the Vacaville auto center
policy plan amendment. Basically they discussed how the current Vacaville
Auto center sign is outdated, and they informed the audience of the plan to
put in a larger, electronic sign, more similar to the sign at the Fairfield Auto
center, to replace the other sign. One audience member went up and
discussed his concerns about the sign, noting that he felt it might be
distracting for drivers. The enforcers of the plan addressed his concerns
pretty instantaneously, saying that with the bigger, easier to read print, it
should be a quicker, more straightforward message, therefore even less
distracting then the current sign, despite the larger more in your face
design of the new one. The district planning committee all agreed to move
forward with the movement to replace the sign. I do think that the decision
was made democratically, as there was an open vote for all of the members
of the committee. The second topic that they discussed was the Pacific Plaza
East Planned Sign Program Amendment. The pacific east plaza is the large
building at the entrance of historic downtown Vacaville with the large KUIC
sign on the front. The proposed idea here was to put up a large 7 by 30 foot
electronic banner spread across the corner and the two sides facing the cross
streets Davis and Mason. The gentleman that proposed the idea went into

detail with photos and logistics of how this would happen and look after it
was completed. The committee didnt seem thrilled with the idea, and voiced
many concerns with the project, including the enormity of the sign, and the
electronic sign clashing with the older feel of downtown Vacaville. They went
on for about an hour back and forth, and finally the decision was made to
postpone the hearing until some back up plans could be discussed. This
decision was also made democratically, again with an open vote by the
planning committee. I think that the positives of theses city planning
meetings, are that the public gets to hear about the major projects and
developments going on in their community, and openly voice their opinions
and concerns, as well as get questions answered, and potentially even sway
the boards decision, making citizens involved in the decision process. The
negatives may be getting too many people involved, making it harder to all
agree on a final decision. I definitely feel that the citizens were allotted more
than enough time to speak; the leader of the meeting opened up the floor for
citizens to speak, and let everyone talk, and made sure that no one was left
unnoticed before closing the floor for open discussion. I feel that the sign for
the auto center will benefit Vacaville in multiple ways: bringing more
business, modernizing some of our bigger business areas, etc. I also agree
with the boards decision to wait on agreeing or disagreeing to moving
forward with the electronic banner on the east plaza building. Although I do
feel that the businesses there do deserve better awareness and advertising, I

do think that the banner is oversized, and the electronic banner does clash
with the theme of downtown Vacaville.