While the massive J Resort 65 by 65 feet electronic video board at West 4th street can be entertaining and soothing to some walking or driving by, it was immediately annoying to several nearby residents.
Dez Peltzer, a resident of Reno, living one block away in the Plaza Apartments, says the sign directly faces their bedroom window. Peltzer says they “would consider [the sign] a nuisance.”
Being on the third floor, Peltzer's window has a clear view of the art on display and had to buy blackout curtains to prevent the light from keeping them up at night.
A January press release indicated the rotation of digital artwork being displayed is set to change every six months.
“We set out to create an unparalleled creative experience in downtown Reno,” Jeff Jacobs, CEO of Jacobs Entertainment was quoted as saying. “Our sizeable digital art display exists to immerse the community in a life-sized gallery from J Resort’s public spaces…”
Cassandra Hui, a graduate student at the University of Nevada, Reno, who studies circadian rhythms and how light pollution can affect people’s internal clocks, said she was concerned how the massive sign adds light pollution to downtown Reno.
“A big thing is changing the color,” Hui recommended.
A warm tone LED would range from golden yellow to red and would be easier on the eyes and on the body's circadian rhythm.
A majority of the light pollution in Reno comes from casino signs on Virginia street. With the J Resort being several blocks away, this is expanding the area of light pollution.
A warmer spectrum could still affect the circadian rhythm, but Hui said this wouldn’t have as many negative effects.
A more recent notice had a call out for “Reno’s digital creatives” to have their work displayed on the screen during Artown, on Friday, July 26, 2024. We reached out to several artists promoting this event on their own feeds, but none responded to our interview queries.
There’s also been research on how electronic billboards are wasted energy, create driver distractions, add to visual clutter, disconnect people from a sense of place and nature, and provide no social benefits.
A recent paper in a scientific journal explained how visual pollution can have a deep degrading effect on urban communities.
The sign was installed by a company named YESCO, which released a behind the scenes video and has been making other signs for the J Resort.
“Digital signs of this scale are energy hogs using the equivalent of 30 homes worth of energy in a year,” John Hara the President of Scenic Nevada said.
His non-profit which works to protect the scenic character of Nevada has several lawsuits against Jacobs Entertainment to protect the scenery of Reno over other planned signs for a multitude of reasons.
Hara explains one of these lawsuits states how billboards attached to buildings are only allowed to use that board to advertise for what’s happening in the building it’s attached to. However, Jacobs Entertainment has been using its multiple signs for other things, such as promoting its Glow Plaza events. Scenic Nevada says that this shouldn't be allowed while Jacobs Entertainment has submitted a request to be able to advertise for their neighboring attractions as well.
We reached out repeatedly to the J Resort and the Abbi Agency which released the January press release (with contact details above if anybody wants to try and get back to us with any answers) for comments to information we were being provided for this report. After seven attempts, we did not hear back and gave up.