More than a decade after Loomis residents went to battle with Rocklin over the "McChevron sign," a developer may be able to fix what some call a glowing, 85-foot eyesore that still looms over their homes.
Developer Paul Petrovich has offered to move the sign, located along Interstate 80 near Sierra College Boulevard, as part of his 138,000-square-foot commercial project on Granite Drive.
But the saga of the sign has a few remaining twists.
Rocklin's existing ordinance would require hefty fees to move the sign, which beckons freeway travelers into the nearby McDonald's restaurant and Chevron service station.
City planners are looking at ways to skirt the technicality, but Petrovich also needs approval from McDonald's to move the sign.
"Even though I don't have a tenant, I want to fix this problem for the neighbors," Petrovich said in an e-mail to The Bee.
In 1997, the Rocklin City Council approved a request from McDonald's for the illuminated, four-panel sign to be placed in an empty lot just yards from homes in Loomis.
Residents in Loomis' Hunters Crossing neighborhood had attended Rocklin council meetings to try to prevent the sign from being erected.
They stood in front of a local grocery store and gathered more than 200 signatures for a petition to move the sign or lower it.
They also picketed McDonald's.
But the McChevron sign stayed put, even after a lawsuit.
"We worked pretty hard to get rid of that sign, and it's still there," Hunters Crossing resident Larry Monahan said. "I still hate it."
The sign sticks out above the neat row of homes at the end of Hunters Drive.
"You see cute little houses with beautiful trees and bushes, and then you see the ugly sign right behind us," Monahan said. "It looks like it's growing right out of my house. … This is why people hate big business."
Monahan said moving the sign 60 feet away from the residential neighborhood would solve the problem and relocate it closer to the businesses it advertises.
Petrovich inherited the sign controversy when he purchased the property it stands on. Although he owns the land, McDonald's owns the sign and has an easement for it, he said.
Even so, Petrovich has taken on the task of hiring a crane and hanging a flag from it to see if a sign would still be visible to freeway traffic in a new spot.
"We are getting costs to do that work," Petrovich said.
During a meeting last month, Petrovich told the council members that he'd like to put up a new sign with decorative elements to make it more attractive than the existing metal pole sign.
"I think we could create a tremendous amount of goodwill," he said at the time.
Since then, Petrovich said, Rocklin officials have been more than willing to help.
"We're trying to find a way to do it without charging an arm and a leg," Mayor Brett Storey said. "Let's face it – it's a tall, not aesthetically-pleasing sign.
"But we want to make sure everyone wants it done and that it doesn't require an excess of bureaucratic fees for something that could be pretty simplistic to fix."
In another twist, the town of Loomis recently filed a lawsuit against Rocklin over the Petrovich project because of concerns about traffic, noise and air pollution from what likely will be a "big-box" store.
Call The Bee's Jennifer K. Morita, (916) 773-7388.
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