Max Baer sign back

Max Baer Jr.'s sign for the Beverly Hillbillies Mansion and Casino will get a second take on Thursday.

Baer's Project One LLC is appealing a Douglas County Planning Commission denial of a variance that would allow the 109-foot, 2,423-square-foot sign along Highway 395 south of Topsy Lane.

Douglas County code allows a sign that's 30-feet tall and 115 square feet.

The sign is the last major approval required for the project to move forward. Douglas County commissioners approved Baer's hotel and casino last summer, after he disconnected the sign from the rest of the proposal.

Baer's sign, which started out as an oil derrick, is now tulip-shaped with two animated reader boards.

County commissioners rejected a proposal for a 143-foot oil derrick in January. The new design went before planning commissioners on May 13, where it was denied.

In their appeal, project proponents said the planning commission's decision "was arbitrary and capricious and was not supported by substantial evidence."

Proponents said the topography of the property creates an exceptional situation and that if constructed to county code, only the top 10 feet would be visible above the highway.

In addition, proponents say the staff report, which recommended denial of the project, was slanted against them.

"Strangely, the staff report for the resort's initial signage, which was a request for a significantly larger sign, support granting of a variance while the current staff report does not," the appeal said.

Also on commissioners' agenda on Thursday:

- County commissioners are being asked to determine what direction they want to follow in revising the flood ordinance.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency threatened to take away Douglas County's status that provides a 20 percent discount on all flood policies purchased in the county, if it didn't update the ordinance. A short time later, the ordinance was ruled unconstitutional.

Deputy District Attorney Robert Morris is asking commissioners to provide direction on four sections of the ordinance, including the one that doesn't let projects affect neighbors' property, the exclusion of existing lots and subdivision maps, the requirement that subdivisions or serial parcel maps in the x-shaded flood zone do a hydrology and hydraulic study and finally requiring any requests for flood map changes be approved by the federal government before work can begin.

- The cabaret liquor license of a Gardnerville Ranchos tavern could be revoked on Thursday.

Citing more than 50 complaints at Boodler's Bar and Grubshack, the Douglas County Sheriff's Office is seeking revocation of the bar's license.

Members of the Douglas County Liquor Licensing Board will discuss the tavern's license at their meeting 1 p.m. Thursday at the county administrative building in Minden.

According to a report prepared by Sgt. Jim Halsey and Assistant District Attorney Mike McCormick, the tavern's ownership has changed since its license was issued on June 15, 2006.

With the withdrawal of co-owner Keith Endlich, the sole owner is Jeffrey Shackleton, who was arrested for driving under the influence, second offense, on May 27, according to the Sheriff's Office.