New rules on billboards may again be amended

Thursday, July 18, 2002 | 9:28 a.m.

Anybody for another look at Clark County's billboard regulations?

After a year of battling over the rules, the Clark County Commission adopted the new guidelines in February. At the time, one of the rules everybody seemed to agree on was that the commission would have the final say on any new billboards.

Now county staff is not so sure that rule is in the final regulations. The district attorney's office is reviewing the issue after it arose at Wednesday's regular zoning meeting of the county commission.

Commissioner Chip Maxfield said the law apparently would allow the Clark County Planning Commission, which usually serves as an advisory board to the county commission, to make the ultimate decision on billboards.

Commissioner Mary Kincaid-Chauncey said that was her understanding as well.

The problem is that the ordinance said every new billboard must get a use permit from the county. But it is the county planning commission, not the county commissioners, that rules on use permits.

The debate over the issue led to charges of improper conduct leveled against Commission Chairman Dario Herrera, charges ultimately thrown out by the state ethics board.

The acrimony on the issue has subsided since February, but now the law has planners, politicians and billboard owners scratching their heads.

Mark Fiorentino, an attorney that represented the Nevada Outdoor Media Association during the seemingly endless debate over the billboard ordinance, said the county commission will probably have to revise the February ordinance -- which was a revision of another ordinance passed two months earlier.

The rules in place are "a little inconsistent with some of the comments from the meeting where the ordinance was passed," he said.

Maxfield said he is not sure whether the mix-up can be corrected administratively or if the commission will have to revisit the issue.

Fiorentino said the billboard association would probably not oppose rewriting the rules so that the county commission, rather than the planning commission, had the final say. But the group probably would favor eliminating the planning commission step so applicants do not have to go through two steps, he said.

The issue came up as the commission considered an appeal on three billboards sought on Interstate 215 west of Rainbow Boulevard. The Spring Valley Town Board, an advisory group, denied the request because the town board opposes billboards west of Rainbow.

The planning commission, however, approved the use permits June 20. Commissioner Bruce Woodbury, who has been critical of billboards along I-215, the Las Vegas Beltway, appealed the issue, bringing it back before the county commission.

The three billboard permits were held by the commission until August 7. Maxfield said the move to hold the permit for later action was not because of the quirk in the rules, but rather to give the county commissioners time to consider whether those locations were appropriate for billboards.