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An Onalaska car dealer will come to the city Plan Commission next week for approval to erect an additional sign outside its Theatre Road business. Dahl Automotive is currently permitted two pylon signs, which the company argues causes “financial difficulties” since it sells three different brands of vehicles.

The Plan Commission could grant a special amendment to Dahl’s zoning agreement if it believes the additional sign constitutes only a “minor change” to the property.

“This amendment is being requested due to financial difficulties being caused due to the lack of branding,” La Crosse Sign Company president Paul Fuchsel wrote the commission in a letter on behalf of Dahl Automotive. The company deals Ford, Hyundai and Lincoln-Mercury vehicles.

Dan Swift, general manager of Dahl Automotive, told the Plan Commission Subcommittee at its meeting Tuesday that the dealership already sought to erect two different car companies’ signs on the same pylon, “but it is not acceptable per manufacturer’s standards.”

The proposed sign would conform to city ordinances and face the frontage road between the Dahl and Saturn dealerships.

“I don’t believe it would be obtrusive or stick out like a sore thumb. I think it would actually fit in,” Land Use and Development Director Jason Gilman said Tuesday.

When Theater Road Center — currently comprised of the Dahl and Saturn dealerships and Wells Fargo — was constructed in the early 1980s, the city granted it a special Planned Commercial Industrial Development zoning district. Under the original rules, a company was only granted one pylon sign per lot. However, due to consolidation of lots and the amount of vehicle franchises being sold by the dealership, Dahl had already been granted special permission to have the two pylon signs it displays today.

“The only sticking point in my mind (is) what happens in the future in terms of a precedent being set,” committee Chairman Mike Giese said Tuesday.

Tree ordinance

The Plan Commission will also vote next week to recommend a six-page ordinance protecting trees in the city.

The planning department had begun working on the ordinance nine months ago and presented it for final approval at the June Plan Commission meeting. Then, the commission spoke in favor of the ordinance but neglected to send it on to council for final approval.

“It kind of slipped through the cracks, frankly,” Gilman said Tuesday.

Assistant city planner Deena Murphy, who did most of the work in drafting the tree protection ordinance, brought it to the commission’s attention that it had not been ratified.

Since the ordinance had been given a public hearing in May, it just needs to be endorsed by the Plan Commission and passed by the council before it can take effect.

“I’ll take this opportunity to acknowledge a continuous stream of compliments,” toward Jason Gilman, Giese said Tuesday. “However, I think he may need to prepare for retirement, because it looks like his staff is ready to take over.”