Amador County – Amador County Supervisors in late November discussed a request to return a digital sign to the Jackson Elks Lodge lot on Kennedy Flat Road, but the issue has since stalled.

Supervisor Chairman John Plasse said Monday that talks with Caltrans have concluded that the sign would not be allowed at the location without the county issuing a building permit. Other options would be a chang in zoning of the property, or changing the county sign ordinance to allow electronic signs on commercial property.

Plasse said the county wouldn’t change zoning without a property owner’s request, and changing the ordinance to allow electronic signs on commercial parcels would unduly impact property all across the county, and he did not see that supported by the board.

At the Nov. 22 meeting, the sign’s leasers, Golden Chain Council of the Mother Lode requested county permission to place the sign there, where it had been before Caltrans forced its removal.

County Counsel Greg Gillott said Caltrans had issued a letter saying it was OK with the sign location, but since then county zoning constraints were found. The real critical one is that the sign would only be allowed on property zoned H, for Highway. He said the county cannot grant a variance to zoning, and the only solution would be to amend the code or find an H-zoned parcel. County Planner Cara Augustin said there is a little strip of Williamson Act land, between Campo de Casa and the Elks property that is zoned H.

Bill Byrd of Golden Chain said the Elks property is zoned C-1 and he thought it should be zoned H because it has an RV park. Planning Director Susan Grijalva said the property owner has a long-term lease with Elks Lodge. The owner changed the parcel’s zoning from H to C-1 to allow for Elks uses. She said the majority of county H zoning is on that strip in Martell.

Plasse asked how much time it would take to amend the ordinance to include the term “electronic.” Supervisor Brian Oneto asked: “How many of these signs do you want around the county?”

Supervisor Vice Chairman Louis Boitano, who requested the agenda item, said: “Before you get all fired up, it was my intention to only allow that one sign,” for the remainder of the lease. Byrd said after the Amador County Fair, “we have to decide if we want to buy the sign or send it back.”

Supervisor Richard Forster said if you allow this sign, you cannot deny other applicants. He said he gets his fill of electronic signs in his annual trip to Las Vegas for the National Rodeo Alliance conference.

Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.