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Design team pitches low horizontal monumentation for Grand Boulevard; board raises sight-line and height concerns
Summary
Designers for the Howard Group presented a conceptual 'kit of parts' of landscape walls and low horizontal signage for Grand Boulevard along U.S. 98. Reviewers praised the integrated landscape-signage approach but flagged sight-triangle and occasional 6-foot wall heights for further study.
Design consultants for the Howard Group presented conceptual identity monumentation and a material palette for the Grand Boulevard frontage along U.S. 98 and asked the Walton County Design Review Board for feedback on October 2.
The presentation, led by Harry Mark of RSM Design, proposed replacing the existing upright monument signs with a “kit of parts” of landscape walls and lower, horizontal signs that would be repeated along about three-quarters of a mile of project frontage. Mark said the approach is intended to “change the paradigm from a retail center to a mixed use community” and noted the team will use “regionally quarried stone, some concrete with oyster shells, or poured in place concrete, as well as some stucco” in the materials palette.
Board members and staff responded positively to the overall concept while urging close attention to visibility and grading. One board member said sight triangles are a concern, noting current tight turning movements in the area and asking whether the drawings showed 3-foot or 5-foot planting heights. Mark replied the tallest wall in the set would be 6 feet in one location and that the majority of walls would be shorter, and that the placement shown was conceptual and would be checked for side-triangle and utility conflicts in collaboration with landscape architects and DOT/right‑of‑way staff.
The team described sizes and hierarchy they envision: tenant identity panels approximately 18 inches high by about 20 feet wide (roughly 30 square feet), and larger Grand Boulevard identity walls around 36 inches high and up to 40 feet long (about 120 square feet). Mark said the cumulative sign area would be less than the existing perpendicular monumentation and that letters for “Grand Boulevard” would be internally illuminated acrylic face letters with a branded blue return edge.
Board members asked for mockups and sight-line tests. Mark said physical stakes and mockups of wall lengths are already in place to test scale at 55 miles per hour and that the team will return with further details, including the wayfinding family of signs not shown at this meeting.
Next steps: the team will refine placement and heights to avoid side-triangle conflicts and return with more detailed drawings and mockups for the board’s review.
