Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

NLV says no to campaign trailers

First they took away Gary Davis' gavel. Now they want to strip him of his tractor trailers.

The former North Las Vegas municipal judge blamed petty politics for his removal from office last December when the Nevada Judicial Discipline Commission ruled he was guilty of ethical breaches.

He said Tuesday the same petty politics are involved in demands from the city of North Las Vegas that he remove the trailers that are advertising his candidacy for County Commission District B.

City Development Director Donald Brown said the mobile trailers, each 40 to 45 feet long and placed on private commercial or industrial property, have always been unlawful in North Las Vegas.

Brown said the city fielded a citizen's complaint about the trailers last week, and would charge Davis or the property owners with misdemeanor violations of the city's sign ordinance if necessary.

But Davis vows to fight the city, arguing that he never was cited when he used the trailers for his judicial races.

"I've done this for more than 10 years," Davis said. "This strikes me as strange."

Davis said that for his County Commission race, he is renting 27 trailers at $150 apiece per month. He also paid $800 to paint each of the trailers.

Davis said about 10 of the trailers were located throughout North Las Vegas as of Tuesday, and that one of the property owners had already received a warning from the city.

He also conceded that Clark County officials ordered him last month to remove one of his trailers from an unincorporated part of the county. But he said he may appeal that decision as well.

Amber Davis, the candidate's daughter, said North Las Vegas' sign ordinance contains conflicting provisions. Before it was amended in January, the ordinance allowed for "off-premise signs" of up to 672 square feet in industrial and commercial zones.

Tractor trailers are typically no more than 13 feet, 6 inches high, according to the Nevada Division of Motor Vehicles and Public Safety. Given the length of Davis' trailers, he would fall well within that square footage.

Brown said mobile tractor trailers are illegal, however, because off-premise signs must be in fixed locations. But Amber Davis said that definition was not specified in either the original ordinance or the updated version.

Ironically, further changes to the sign ordinance are scheduled to be introduced for consideration tonight by the North Las Vegas City Council. Amber Brown said one of the proposed changes would make the tractor trailers illegal.

Two members of the council, Mayor James Seastrand and Councilwoman Mary Kincaid, also are candidates for County Commission in District B.

Davis

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