Residents and commissioners press staff to halt replacement of carved Heritage Park sign

Asav Gupta, who said he serves on the Utilities Advisory Commission and was speaking in a personal capacity on behalf of a neighborhood association, told commissioners that the Heritage Park carved wooden sign had been removed and replaced with a lower‑resolution printed panel. “It kind of loses its unique character,” Gupta said, asking the commission and parks staff to halt further replacements, restore the original wood sign where possible and establish a public process for sign decisions.

Division Manager Sarah Robicelli told the commission that many of the city’s original carved wood signs are at the end of their service life and that the original fabricator retired. “We did find an alternative vendor...so this became a very expensive, timely, and specialized process,” Robicelli said. She said staff coordinated across departments and selected high‑pressure laminate panels mounted on preserved redwood posts to improve durability, UV resistance and graffiti resistance while reducing long‑term maintenance costs.

Multiple commissioners and public commenters pushed back. A Zoom commenter, Rebecca N, described the replacement as a “really bad judgment call” and said the new panel looks cheap and out of place. Commissioners asked staff to return with more details on the sign‑replacement process, including costs and criteria used to decide which signs were replaced as operational vs. brought forward for commission review. Staff said it would follow up with cost information and the relevant plan documents and noted that Heritage Park’s sign had been previously reported in departmental updates.

The exchange concluded with staff acknowledging the community concern and commissioners saying they would like a clearer process so that decisions that are likely to generate public comment can be brought earlier to the commission.