Placerville Businesses Propose Welcome Sign Advertising Events

PLACERVILLE (CBS13) — Placerville businesses want to use a sign welcoming visitors to town to entice more people, but there's some pushback.

It's considered the gateway to the Sierra—a small city, rich in history nestled along Highway 50 on the way to Lake Tahoe—but many people drive right past it.

The Placerville Downtown Association hopes to make something that's more than just a welcome sign, but a way to boost local business.

"Sixty-eight thousand people travel this corridor every day—that's almost 25 million people [annually], and if we can get 2 percent of them off, that's 500,000 more people," said association member and business owner Sue Rees. "That's a huge, huge amount of traffic on our little main street."

Rees wants to add space on the sign to advertise local events in hopes that people driving by will stop and want to spend some money.

But longtime resident Kathi Lishman says changing the sign will take away from Placerville's grace and charm.

"I think that sign is beautiful the way that it is, and I think it welcomes people to Placerville which I think it should do," she said.

While Rees believes the ads would bring in extra income, Lishman worries it could look like a sign of desperation.

"It's uncluttered, it's peaceful, it's very elegant and it has a historic flavor to it and I just think it would detract from the sign," she said.

If approved the sign space would only be rented out to advertise local events by nonprofit organizations.