Carson planners wrestle with auto-sales ordinance changes

Big, flashy signs aren't what Carson City Planning Commissioners want to see popping up around the city.

"We're not trying to be restrictive, but we want some rules," said Commissioner Mark Kimbrough.

During their Wednesday meeting, the commissioners recommended updating the city's rules for auto dealership signs.

Operators of local dealerships sometimes feel like they are caught in the middle between the dictates of corporations that manufacture the brands of vehicles they sell and the communities where they sell them.

While the manufacturers work with the city, "they want to make sure their signs are the same as Home Depot or Jack in the Box," said Dana Shaley, general manager of Carson City Toyota.

Kimbrough asked Shaley why auto dealers put up so many different things other than signs. He passed one of the car sales businesses on South Carson Street recently, and the signs, balloons, banners and other devices, when grouped in one area, "aren't really pretty," he said.

"You saw everything?" Whaley asked. That's the idea, the way to draw people in, he said.

The city "30 miles to the north," said Whaley in reference to Reno, allows dealerships to "do a circus act."

Auto signs put up under the new rules cannot exceed a height of 32 feet nor have a sign face larger than 200 square feet. The goal is to allow for visibility and recognition of the automobile sign designs while not allowing the designs to be large and overwhelming, according to Walt Sullivan, community development director.

Auto dealerships provide the city with about one-third of its taxable sales revenue.

The commissioners also heard suggestions about what the city could do to regulate signs pointing toward the freeway from commercial locations,

"We're asking you, 'What do you want to see?'" said Lee Plemel, the city's principal planner.

The idea is to create height, size and style standards and a limit in quantity allowed within a certain area. The city is seeking "an aesthetic balance" before requests for signs pointing toward the freeway are erected, Plemel said.

The commissioners will consider the matter again in an upcoming meeting.

In other business:

• Commissioners approved the special-use permit for the expansion of First Presbyterian Church at 110 N. Nevada St. The work will preserve the sections of the church built during the 19th century while giving parishioners a new worship area.

Church officials originally sought to tear down the historic church because it considered unsafe to occupy. They said they hope to submit plan drawings to the city in August and start obtaining permits in September.

• Commissioners approved a new subdivision map for West Knoll, formerly known as Curry Village, to be constructed in the 1400 block of South Curry Street as a purely commercial project. It was to be the city's first-ever mixed-use development, but unforeseen expenses caused the developer to change from offering retail and residential spaces for sale within the site, said Tom Metcalf of Metcalf Builders.

• Contact reporter Terri Harber at tharber @nevadaappeal.com or 882-2111, ext. 215.