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Mountain Times: Good signage is important to well-being of our businesses

Norm and Alan Nicholls
Special to the Sun

TRUCKEE/TAHOE, Calif. and#8212; I donand#8217;t know about you, but I sure enjoyed all the rain, the lightning and thunder, and the resulting beautiful smells in the air after the storms past. Fall is a beautiful time of year, and we are definitely in the middle of it.

I am back in my shorts to go out golfing this afternoon, so letand#8217;s prolong the fall and give it some time before the real beginning of winter. Fire season is behind us, so a little bit of an Indian summer would not be bad for our mental states of mind.

Will it last? From our house, we can see directly to the Pacific Crest with Anderson Peak on the right and Tinker Knob to the left. For years I have been amazed at how long the patch of snow that is just north and below the base of Tinker Knob, has lasted each year. Last year the patch melted in late September and accumulations began again about 3 weeks later.



This year the snow patch (now separated into three patches) is still up there but it has dwindled significantly after all the rain. Since last winter was an above average snowfall, I have been pretty confident that some of the snow would remain into this next winter. Only time will tell, but it is going to be close. Imagine being in a place where the snow remains well more than 300 days a year? Definitely not the place to build your dream home.

Go Wolverines: The and#8220;Big Redand#8221; TNT Wolverine machine continues to roll over all comers in what may end up being the most successful football season in Truckeeand#8217;s history. They are undefeated so far this year! In league play, they are a perfect 5-0, and the defense has not allowed a score. The offense has accumulated 173 points during league. That point count could be much higher, but in the spirit of good sportsmanship, the team normally backs things down in the second half of each game. Congratulations to the players and coaching staff and#8230; keep up the good work.



Signs: Unfortunately I missed last Wednesday nightand#8217;s meeting at Truckee Town Hall about sign ordinances and enforcement, but it is definitely a hot item for me and I support fair and equitable signage.

In Myrtle Beach (So. Carolina), if there are ordinances, you would not know it. Keep in mind this is a tourist destination … a big tourist destination. In the peak months this town (or city of 200,000) welcomes more than a million tourists who enjoy golf and the beautiful beaches of the Atlantic Ocean.

Along the highways and main thoroughfares you see signs absolutely everywhere and#8230; on buildings, in parking lots, painted on the sides of vans and trailers, on huge bill boards (probably around 20 per mile!), sandwich boards, hot air balloons, etc. They definitely distract from the beauty of this lovely area.

Truckeeand#8217;s signing and advertisement mediums are much more subdued, but it is good to take a hard look at the regulations, develop new ones if needed, and to examine the current adherence, or disregard, of current regulations by the businesses and individuals alike.

Since the downturn of our local economy, there have definitely been increased misuses of signage, and some blatant disregard to ordinances in an attempt by some individuals to one up the next guy and to get more of the available business. During the past two summers, especially on weekends, we have seen more vehicles parked adjacent to streets (on both public and private property) with signs promoting their businesses.

Recently I saw a truck and trailer, with signage, parked on the east side of Airport Road by the lighted intersection of Highway 267, and just two blocks from Town Hall! That must have taken some guts, but I wonder if he/she was requested to remove this blatant non-conforming style of advertising, or if it went unnoticed or ignored by the town regulators.

Good signage is important to the well-being of our businesses and the overall look of our community. I applaud any and all efforts to make our signage ordinances better, and for regulation to be fair and equal to all. I also hope that better regulation will eliminate many of the abuses during weekends and holidays.

Norm and Alan Nicholls of the Nicholls Real Estate Group are affiliated with Dickson Realty at 11500 Donner Pass Rd. in Truckee.


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