Sign code, the Lear Theater, downtown redevelopment priorities & more
By Alicia Barber
It was such a pleasure to meet so many of you at the Nevada Humanities Literary Crawl this past Saturday. Thanks so much for saying hi, and I hope you all found the day as enjoyable and inspiring as I did!
Today’s highlighted issue is the City’s sign code, particularly as it impacts downtown, but first, you can find the schedule of all public City meetings for the week of October 14-18 along with agendas and supporting materials here. They include the following:
- Monday 10/14: Public Art Committee of the Arts and Culture Commission (11am);
Ward 1 NAB (5:30pm)←CANCELLED - Tuesday 10/15: Ward 2 NAB (5:30pm), Recreation and Parks Commission (6pm)
- Wednesday 10/16: Urban Forestry Commission (5:30pm); Reno Planning Commission (6pm, online agenda here)
- Thursday 10/17: Ward 4 NAB (6pm)
The NABs that meet this week will all hear updates on the City’s “Zoning Code Clean-Up”, among other items. Keep in mind that you can view and participate in all of these meetings virtually by registering via a link on their agendas.
Potential Changes to the City’s Sign Code
One of the items on the Reno Planning Commission agenda (Item 5.1) is an initial review of proposed changes to the Title 18 Sign Code. As explained on the City’s “Zoning Code Clean-Up” webpage, this discussion follows a series of stakeholder and public outreach meetings that finished up at the end of last month, and the City is now asking the Planning Commission for input and feedback on the sign code prior to a similar review by City Council, likely in November. The final draft ordinance is scheduled for review in early 2025. You can view the Staff Report for this item here.
The sign code is a specialized area, to be sure, but its provisions impact the quality of life for our entire community, from the experience of our daily commute to the appearance of our neighborhoods and districts to the view out our bedroom windows.
There’s a lot in this update, much of its regarding edits for consistency and clarity. But it has drawn particular concern from the nonprofit organization Scenic Nevada and others for the signage allowances given by right in the center of downtown—what’s formally zoned as the “Entertainment District.” Here’s a map of that area, bounded on the south side by Second Street and extending from Ralston Street on the west to Record Street on the east, with an additional extension along the ballpark property. On the north is a jagged boundary jutting up to Seventh Street at its northernmost tip.
You can read the alert issued by Scenic Nevada here. As they explain, the code as written in this proposed draft would “allow any business – from pawn shops to liquor stores – in the downtown district in addition to casinos to have 100-foot-tall signs with no limit on number, size or types of lighting.”
You’ll see that there is a difference of opinion between the City of Reno and Scenic Nevada regarding precisely what is allowed today and how we got here. According to Scenic Nevada, an earlier draft of this code restricted that very liberal signage (up to 100 feet high with no public review) in the downtown area to gaming properties ONLY, while according to the City of Reno, the granting of such liberal signage to ALL properties in the downtown Entertainment District dates back to 2005. You can view the City’s explanation from one of the stakeholder meetings here.
To me what’s most important here is not necessarily what was allowed or proposed in the past, but the opportunity being afforded us today to re-examine a potentially outdated section of code that may have run its course.
For starters, I think we need to take a good hard look at what this map (and current City zoning) categorizes as the “Entertainment District,” described in the City’s 2017 Downtown Action Plan as “traditionally the 24-hour gaming area that includes the major hotel casinos in the core, the Events Center and National Bowling Stadium” (p. 44). The definition of this and other downtown districts was intended to “help shape the future of Downtown over the next five to ten years” (p. 55) and became part of the Reimagine Reno Master Plan.
Read the rest at the Barber Brief.
The Barber Brief is an independent e-newsletter and blog written by Dr. Alicia Barber on the Substack platform. It is reposted by This Is Reno with her permission.
