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Design board targets feather flags

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Efforts are underway to curb the amount of feather flags fluttering outside businesses throughout town.

At the Ramona Design Review Board’s Aug. 25 meeting, chair Rob Lewallen said the feather flags — vertical flags used as promotional tools — are comparable to temporary banners and will be addressed in the update of the Ramona Village Center Form-Based Code. The suggestion, he said, is to allow a business a maximum of 45 days per year to display feather flags for a special event. Board member Scotty Ensign said special event should be defined.

Generally that means special sales or grand openings, Lewallen said, but member Darryl Larson asked if a special sale would include a restaurant’s advertised menu deals.

“We’ve got to get rid of these because they’re every place,” he said.

Board members recommended the following: defining special events; allowing a business to display feather flags a maximum of 30 days at a time, but no more than twice a year for an annual total of 45 days; and requesting a business file with the county for a permit to display the flag.

Member Jim Cooper said that as a candidate for the Ramona Community Planning Group, in certain areas he has to display an authorization number from the county on his election signs. He suggested businesses be required to do the same on the flags.

Lewallen said draft changes to the form-based code will go to the design review board and to the planning group for approval before consideration by the county Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors.

Cooper said before it is presented to any of the groups, he wants a community evening meeting to give residents an opportunity to voice their opinions about form-based code changes.

“There’s still a lot of hard feelings that this was slipped through earlier,” Cooper said, noting he gets phone calls about it. “That’s the most transparent process I can imagine.”

An issue that has some residents concerned is the possibility of including Jim Hagey’s property behind Stater Bros. shopping center, bordered by Ramona, H, and 16th streets, in the form-based code area. That would make it easier for Hagey to develop his property for retail. He has proposed creating a town square around Elliott Pond, but says to make that viable he needs to sell the southern portion, bordered by H Street, to a retail developer for a possible medium or big box store.

“The Hagey property is actually going to be a whole separate issue,” Lewallen told the board.

Cooper said it will then need a separate community meeting.

In other business:

Because the county has not had a code enforcement officer assigned to Ramona for months and the board has identified sign and lighting violations, members agreed to send a letter to county Supervisor Dianne Jacob, seeking her help in at least assigning a pro tem officer.

The board approved plans for Jiffy Lube at 1850 Main St.

Members told two representatives seeking a waiver request for McDonald’s’ remodel that what they were proposing would need a site plan review. Board members also said, repeating comments from their July 28 meeting, that the design was too industrial-looking and did not fit the community character. The two were not at the July meeting. One said McDonald’s is going through a re-branding, but they would take the plans back to the drawing board. Lewallen recommended they study the form-based code, which covers architectural design standards for projects in the downtown area.

No one showed for a site plan review for a medical marijuana cultivation at 2338 Montecito Road.

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