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Agenda Item
12. Public Hearing on Resolution R23-163 to allow for objections with possible action to approve a Sign Location Lease for an outdoor advertising structure between Washoe County (Lessor) and the Lamar Companies (Lessee), retroactive to June 1, 2023 for a 36-month term, with option to renew for 24 additional months, for the continued use of a portion of land (approximately 250 square feet) identified as Assessor's Parcel Number (APN) 008-211-51 (formerly APN # 008-211-46) to allow a billboard sign with rental fee to Washoe County [in the amount of $1,750.00 monthly] pursuant to Nevada Revised Statute 244.2833. Community Services. (Commission District 2.) FOR POSSIBLE ACTION
Scenic Nevada received this email from a supporter, who had trouble sumitting her comment online:
Hello Ms. Wray, Thank you for your reply and offer to help. I would like to say:
Washoe County Commission
Meeting of December 12, 2023
Agenda Item #12, Lighted billboards
We live in a beautiful mountain/snow and sky environment. We should thrive to protect and enjoy them. Not many cities have them, to our extent. Billboards, lighted or not, obscure and distract from them. We already have too many. I would like to see them restricted as much as possible.
Thank you.
E. Gers
Reno, NV 89523
Commissioners, you have a choice at tomorrow’s public hearing, while reviewing a proposed three-year lease with Lamar Companies, to either keep an existing billboard on county-owned land or refuse and have it removed. Scenic Nevada is opposed to granting a new lease to Lamar. Billboards are nothing more than eyesores that diminish scenic vistas and create a negative impact on the character of Washoe County communities. We urge you to consider the billboard bans that exist in the county and in the city of Reno today. The sign was erected before the billboard bans were enacted and is legally allowed to remain unless you decide otherwise. But it doesn’t make much sense to sign a lease in a county where neither jurisdiction - Washoe nor Reno - permits new ones with the expectation that the numbers will diminish over time for various reasons including losing a lease. In both jurisdictions, residents supported the billboard bans. Almost 60 percent of Reno voters approved the ban on new billboard construction in 2000. And in 2014 the County Commission obliged more than 400 people, who signed Scenic Nevada’s petition to continue the ban in Washoe County. Here’s a chance to have one removed at no expense to the taxpayers. The billboard is located within the Reno city limits on a parcel of land that was private property. Because the billboard is in Reno, city sign codes apply. But we think the county’s sign code should help you decide the right course. Besides the billboard ban, Washoe’s code also prohibits signs on public property owned by the county. Leases all have terminations. Coming to the end of a lease is a common occurrence for business owners. So, entering into a new lease for a billboard on public land where our county’s code says no new billboards are allowed is against public policy. Lamar is a national outdoor advertising company that can continue enhancing its revenue stream by signing a new lease to put its billboard in a city where new billboards are welcome. Conversely the lease income is a drop in the county’s revenue bucket. Please consider the community’s wishes, memorialized in county and city codes, and do not perpetuate the use of this billboard.
Sincerely,
Lori Wray, Director
Scenic Nevada
To: Washoe County Board of Commissioners
Re: Item 12 (review of billboard lease)
Meeting: December 12, 2023
December 10, 2023
Dear Washoe county commissioners Alexis Hill, Jeanne Herman, Mike Clark, Mariluz Garcia, Clara Andriola and staff member Eric Crump
I am a resident of Reno who has long been concerned about preserving the scenic beauty of my adopted city. The views are striking until one comes in the sight of a billboard. I am writing to urge you to have one removed at no expense to the taxpayers and little difference to your budget.
Please honor the majority of city and county citizens who overwhelmingly oppose billboards, which are an eyesore. You have the opportunity to not renew the lease to Lamar. Do the right thing for our environment and deny renewal. You can deny the lease renewal and Lamar will not suffer financially. The citizens will applaud you.
I request that my comment be part of the public record. I would come to your meeting to speak, but I have my annual wellness appointment scheduled on Tuesday morning.
I am the former planning manager for the Washoe County Department of Community Development. I worked on the current Washoe County sign ordinance along with the District Attorney's Office. The intent of that ordinance was to substantially reduce the number of billboards in the unincorporated portion of the county when an opportunity arose to reduce that number. The Board of County Commissioners have an opportunity to achieve the intent of that ordinance by denying the lease for a billboard requested by Lamar as identified in Agenda #12.
Scenic Nevada received this email from a supporter, who had trouble sumitting her comment online:
Hello Ms. Wray, Thank you for your reply and offer to help. I would like to say:
Washoe County Commission
Meeting of December 12, 2023
Agenda Item #12, Lighted billboards
We live in a beautiful mountain/snow and sky environment. We should thrive to protect and enjoy them. Not many cities have them, to our extent. Billboards, lighted or not, obscure and distract from them. We already have too many. I would like to see them restricted as much as possible.
Thank you.
E. Gers
Reno, NV 89523
Commissioners, you have a choice at tomorrow’s public hearing, while reviewing a proposed three-year lease with Lamar Companies, to either keep an existing billboard on county-owned land or refuse and have it removed. Scenic Nevada is opposed to granting a new lease to Lamar. Billboards are nothing more than eyesores that diminish scenic vistas and create a negative impact on the character of Washoe County communities. We urge you to consider the billboard bans that exist in the county and in the city of Reno today. The sign was erected before the billboard bans were enacted and is legally allowed to remain unless you decide otherwise. But it doesn’t make much sense to sign a lease in a county where neither jurisdiction - Washoe nor Reno - permits new ones with the expectation that the numbers will diminish over time for various reasons including losing a lease. In both jurisdictions, residents supported the billboard bans. Almost 60 percent of Reno voters approved the ban on new billboard construction in 2000. And in 2014 the County Commission obliged more than 400 people, who signed Scenic Nevada’s petition to continue the ban in Washoe County. Here’s a chance to have one removed at no expense to the taxpayers. The billboard is located within the Reno city limits on a parcel of land that was private property. Because the billboard is in Reno, city sign codes apply. But we think the county’s sign code should help you decide the right course. Besides the billboard ban, Washoe’s code also prohibits signs on public property owned by the county. Leases all have terminations. Coming to the end of a lease is a common occurrence for business owners. So, entering into a new lease for a billboard on public land where our county’s code says no new billboards are allowed is against public policy. Lamar is a national outdoor advertising company that can continue enhancing its revenue stream by signing a new lease to put its billboard in a city where new billboards are welcome. Conversely the lease income is a drop in the county’s revenue bucket. Please consider the community’s wishes, memorialized in county and city codes, and do not perpetuate the use of this billboard.
Sincerely,
Lori Wray, Director
Scenic Nevada
To: Washoe County Board of Commissioners
Re: Item 12 (review of billboard lease)
Meeting: December 12, 2023
December 10, 2023
Dear Washoe county commissioners Alexis Hill, Jeanne Herman, Mike Clark, Mariluz Garcia, Clara Andriola and staff member Eric Crump
I am a resident of Reno who has long been concerned about preserving the scenic beauty of my adopted city. The views are striking until one comes in the sight of a billboard. I am writing to urge you to have one removed at no expense to the taxpayers and little difference to your budget.
Please honor the majority of city and county citizens who overwhelmingly oppose billboards, which are an eyesore. You have the opportunity to not renew the lease to Lamar. Do the right thing for our environment and deny renewal. You can deny the lease renewal and Lamar will not suffer financially. The citizens will applaud you.
I request that my comment be part of the public record. I would come to your meeting to speak, but I have my annual wellness appointment scheduled on Tuesday morning.
Thank you.
Leah Sanders
I am the former planning manager for the Washoe County Department of Community Development. I worked on the current Washoe County sign ordinance along with the District Attorney's Office. The intent of that ordinance was to substantially reduce the number of billboards in the unincorporated portion of the county when an opportunity arose to reduce that number. The Board of County Commissioners have an opportunity to achieve the intent of that ordinance by denying the lease for a billboard requested by Lamar as identified in Agenda #12.