Saratoga News Signs would point to wines around Saratoga's foothills SBDC wants to help city visitors find attractions By Steve Enders Saratoga business leaders have quietly been developing plans to initiate a new sign system throughout the city, which they hope will draw attention to the city's vast selection of wineries. The signs haven't been approved by the city yet, and are still in the development stage. Eventually, they'll need to be approved by the city's public works department. "We don't have a parking problem. We've got a finding problem," Bill Cooper of Cooper-Garrod Winery said at last week's Saratoga Business Development Council meeting. Cooper said many wineries are tucked so well into the Saratoga hills that visitors to the region have trouble finding them. The proposal calls for 11 signs to be placed on prominent intersections around town. If all goes according to the vintners' plan, signs will pop up on corners including Pierce and Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road, Highway 9 and Saratoga-Los Gatos Road and Highway 9 and Pierce Road. Some of the signs will also point the way to the village, Cooper said, where winetasters may want to walk through or take advantage of restaurants after a day at the area's wineries. The sign idea began about six months ago, when the same group of business leaders wanted a plan to point out the area's attractions. Originally, the sign proposal included other signs, not only directing visitors to wineries but to horse stables, recreation opportunities and other attractions. But the plan was scrapped when details of how many signs would be needed and what to put on them became muddled. But at the SBDC meeting, some seemed interested in reviving the original sign plan. They may ask to place international symbols advertising recreation and restaurants alongside the bunches of grapes that will be used to point to wineries. SBDC chairman and city council member John Mehaffey advised letting Saratoga residents know where signs are likely to be posted and finding out if they are receptive to the idea. Cooper said that most of the signs will be placed on existing signposts that hold signs directing visitors to the area's parks and other attractions. The sign plan constitutes phase III of the city's signage plan, initiated in 1996 to draw attention to the city's opportunities in hopes of gaining more visitors and business. Other signs installed over the past three years point to various businesses, the Chamber of Commerce and Hakone Gardens. Other sign-related discussions focused on Highway 85 signs, which don't point to Saratoga very well. Business owners complained that visitors are often confused over Saratoga Avenue, Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road and De Anza Boulevard. On Highway 85, signs were changed recently from "Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road" to "De Anza Boulevard." [ Back to Contents Page | Saratoga News Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Saratoga News, February 3, 1999. ©1999 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.