Business owners to give input on sign regulations

By Cassie Tomlin

Thursday, Jan. 22, 2009 | 5:04 p.m.

Business owners are being asked for their opinions on the city's sign restrictions in two city-sponsored workshops.

The meetings are designed to help resolve recent controversies over signs that exceed the city's limits, spurred by a months-long debate over the 392-square-foot banner at Boulder Inn and Suites, at Nevada Way and Date Street.

The dates and times of the workshops were expected to be set next week.

The Planning Commission voted 6-1 Wednesday to deny owner Brett Caruso's application for a variance. Member Brad Benson voted against denying the variance.

Caruso did not return phone calls asking whether he would appeal the most recent decision.

Caruso had appeared before the City Council in November appealing a previous Planning Commission decision to take down his sign. He showed council members photos of 20 signs around Boulder City that he said did not meet city standards.

Shortly afterward, 12 of those businesses were cited for the illegal signs, but the city notified them that they would not enforce the orders to remove the signs until the ordinance had been reviewed.

The sign ordinance was changed in 2005 to prohibit billboards within town, but the redrafting resulted in inadvertent confusion, Susan Danielewicz, city planner, said.

Planning Commission Chairman Jim Giannosa called the ordinance a "mess," and suggested that to avoid asking many businesses to remove or remodel their signs, the ordinance should change to reflect what's already commonly accepted.

Caruso's sign is out of the realm of what's acceptable, Giannosa said.

Member Bill Bruninga agreed, citing a letter from a resident concerned with the historic integrity of the neighborhood, claiming Caruso's sign clouds the history and charm.

Caruso argued his sign was proportionate to his building, and if the sign size were reduced to comply with current code, it would look "absurd."

Last year, Caruso hung the vinyl sign, advertising rooms and displaying a photo of the hotel's pool, on the wall facing Nevada Way without a permit. The City Council in November overruled the Planning Commission's October denial of Caruso's retroactive request for a permit.

The commission had declared it too large for its temporary status on a secondary wall — signs on a secondary wall may be no larger than 5 percent of the wall space or 50 square feet. The council called the sign permanent, and sent Caruso back to the commission for a variance, which it denied in January.

Cassie Tomlin can be reached at 948-2073 or [email protected].