UPDATE: The Reno City Council Planning Commission has denied the petition for a 60-foot tall sign at a south Reno shopping center.
The special-use permit was denied in a 4-2 vote.
The variance was defeated in a 6-0 vote.
An appeal to the full Reno City Council is possible.
The Reno City Planning Commission will vote Wednesday night to allow a 60 foot tall sign to advertise stores at a south Reno shopping center.
The SouthTowne Crossing Shopping Center at the intersection of Damonte Ranch Parkway and South Virginia Street has several stores including Walmart, Kohls, and Starbucks. They want to build a 60 foot sign that is visible from the I-580 freeway to attract the thousands of drivers that pass every day. City code allows for the shopping center to have a sign that does not exceed 35 feet tall.
“Scenic Nevada” is a local non-profit that works to “protect the scenic nature of Nevada.” They say the sign is too big and that Nevada’s beauty is what brings business, not a sign.
“When you're driving on the freeway, some of the most beautiful views in town are on these freeways,” said Lori Wary, a member of the Board of Directors at Scenic Nevada. “It's a real good calling card for Reno and Northern Nevada to show how beautiful we are and how nice we keep it.”
SouthTowne Crossing says that the sign would bring in more customers to the businesses inside the shopping center and therefore boosts tax revenue for the city and school district. They also say that this sign needs to be especially tall because the freeway is elevated by 20 feet so a sign of this size is necessary to be seen by drivers.
“Anytime you get another customer in that center, every single business in that center stands to benefit and we have a huge number of small businesses in there that will also reap the rewards of additional signage on the freeway,” said Kenneth Krater, President of K Krater Consulting, representation for SouthTowne Crossing, LLC.
Wary is concerned that allowing this sign would set a precedent for other builders to line Nevada’s freeways with large signs. Scenic Nevada is proponents of the Nevada Department of Transportation amenities signs that are blue and often come before exits to list food and shopping options. Krater says that those signs are not nearly as effective for business.
This isn’t the first time K Krater Consulting and SouthTowne Crossing have applied for a special use permit and variance from the City of Reno. In 2015, they were denied by the Planning Commission and then appealed to the Reno City Council. The council upheld the planning commission’s denial in a 5-2 vote. The sign proposed in 2015 was slightly taller at just under 66 feet.
Tonight the Reno City Planning Commission will be voting on the SouthTowne Crossing's variance and special use permit to allow the 60 foot sign. The meeting begins at 6 p.m. at Reno City Hall and is open to the public.
To view the official application to the city, click here.
