The Reno Planning Commission voted tonight 5-1 to allow The Sand Regency Hotel and Casino to advertise for the Glow Plaza on their future sign. 

As we've reported, Jacobs Entertainment is the company behind the Glow Plaza and now, they're specifically asking the City of Reno to add some of the land at The Sands to their site. 

Jacobs Entertainment also owns The Sands.

The nonprofit Scenic Nevada is against the advertising. 

They say code compliance is the general issue at hand. Particularly, Scenic Nevada wants the commission to look at how regular business are allowed to advertise compared to casinos and apply that rule to Jacobs Entertainment with the Glow Plaza. 

An attorney for Scenic Nevada, Mark Wray, says that back in 2000, Reno passed a law no longer allowing any businesses besides casinos to put up billboards, including digital ones. 

Wray says that since Glow Plaza is not a casino, it should not be able to advertise like that. 

"This is a trick. It's a gimmick to say a non casino property can advertise as if it was a casino, meaning unlimited signage to which fundamentally is unfair to the other businesses in town that have on premise sign laws that they have to comply with," Wray said. 

Representatives with Jacobs Entertainment argue that advertising events for the Glow Plaza will help ensure its success, attracting tourists and locals... as well as warning nearby residents. 

"It was important not only for locals and tourists, but the surrounding neighborhood to be aware of when there would be an event. Because maybe they'd like to stay or attend or maybe they'd like to go out of town that weekend if they didn't want to be next to a downtown event," said Jacobs Entertainment Representative Garrett Gordon. 

After the arguments were said, the planning commission viewed the Glow Plaza as more of an extension of the casino, rather than a separate business, proceeding to support the advertisement. 

Reno Planning Commission board member Alex Velto said during the meeting, "We agreed to support the Glow Plaza and that is already going forward. We should be doing everything we can to now encourage it to exist consistent with the master plan."

The Sands Regency Hotel and Casino will build a 65x65 foot LED sign on the front of the building, along with a smaller digital sign to replace the Mel's Diner sign. And you can expect to see future events at the Glow Plaza advertised on both. 

We've reached out to Jacobs Entertainment for a statement regarding this story and they say they have no comment at this time. 

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