Second of two parts
Re “Turning to Nachbar: What Does Visioning Process Mean?”
As City Manager John Nachbar begins to poll community opinion on a grand land-and-sign scheme by the Carlyle Group, he says that he is a realist.
“You probably never are going to achieve unity, but the goal is to get as close as possible,” Mr. Nachbar said as he opened a campaign that already has attracted heavy pushback from the mayor and other environmentalists. They regard the planned fields of digital signage as an avoidable blot on the landscape.
Ambitious Carlyle, Washington-based global asset management company, meanwhile proposes to upgrade land surrounding three hotels – the DoubleTree, Four Points by Sheraton and Courtyard by Marriott – and then prominently post signage leading visitors to the neighborhood.
[img]2441|right|John Nachbar||no_popup[/img]The City Council has charged Mr. Nachbar, teaming with Sol Blumenfeld and the Community Development Dept., with leading what it calls a several-month visioning/consulting/preparing process for a plan some say may never become airborne.
Proportion appears to be one key to this development plan that could be the largest drawing-board concept in years in Culver City. What proportion is signage and how much is development of the land?
“That is a good question I have not thought of in that way,” Mr. Nachbar said. “It’s a hospitality and entertainment district, which, based on what I think my read is, signage and the land are separate from each other but they are related.”
Back to the city manager’s realism.
“It’s the visioning process and the political process that will tell us what the ultimate outcome is going to be,” Mr. Nachbar said.
