Sonoma Chevrolet Signs OK

The Sonoma City Council voted unanimously to allow the 47-year-old Chevrolet signs on Napa Street in Sonoma to remain following simple maintenance
The Chevrolet signs became an issue before the Sonoma Design Review Commission back in November of 2004 when the previous owners applied for a simple modification of the free-standing signs – which in turn triggered the requirements for bringing all of the signs on the property into compliance with current standards regarding the city’s municipal code.
Two years later, in November of 2006, Dan Roseland purchased the Chevrolet dealership in Sonoma following the unexpected death of the previous owner, Karl Esposti, in a plane crash and contends that he did not know about the expensive sign change requirement.
All Roseland wanted to do was to replace the “Esposti” name with the name “Sonoma Chevrolet” on the current signs.
Even after previously reviewing this matter on an appeal from the DRC, in January of 2005 council voted 5-0 to uphold the decision from the DRC and required the Chevrolet dealership to replace the two existing free-standing signs as to conform to current height and area standards as set forth in the Municipal Code.
Roseland made humble and compelling pleas to the council to come to his aid regarding this sign issue. “I am asking for some help from the city because I can honestly say I probably would not have taken on this dealership if I knew that the current signs were to be removed,” Roseland said. “If I would have known this before – it wouldn’t have penciled through the business plan.”
Roseland told the council that he estimated the signs would cost $40,000 to bring into compliance should the council not come to his aid in this matter.
In his pleas, Roseland was further worried about the degree from which his new business would suffer from reducing the signage and visibility. “Approximately 20% of my business is from out of town customers and many of those people say they stopped by because they saw our sign,” Roseland added.
Councilman August Sebastiani came to the rescue when he said, “I view this issue as a minor modification – as a maintenance issue – grandfathered in – no different than changing a light bulb – the sign has been there for years – just leave it alone.”
Once the city attorney said that the council has the lee-way to interpret the term “maintenance,” they proceeded to interpret it to encompass the sign change.
“Thank you,” Roseland said. “You have just saved a bankruptcy.”