MINDEN, Nev. (AP) — It took him more than a year to do it, but Max Baer Jr. has finally won approval for an outdoor sign at a Beverly Hillbillies-themed hotel-casino he plans to build in northern Nevada.
Baer, who played dimwitted "Jethro" in the "Beverly Hillbillies" television show of the 1960s, was granted a variance for the sign by Douglas County commissioners on Thursday, his 71st birthday.
Commissioners had rejected two previous sign proposals for his Beverly Hillbillies Mansion and Casino just south of Carson City.
Baer's latest proposal called for a return to the original oil derrick design, but with two sign faces instead of three.
Commissioners voted 4-1 to allow a sign height of 90 feet; county code allows a maximum of 30 feet.
They also approved a total sign area of 617 square feet; Baer had requested 878 square feet.
Baer, the son of former heavyweight boxing champion Max Baer, had been struggling since July 2007 over a sign for the $150 million project along U.S. 395 in the county's extreme northern end.
He originally requested a 200-foot oil derrick and a 2,600 square-foot sign that would have hung on the lower end of the derrick.
Commissioners also rejected a tulip-shaped sign reminiscent of classic Beverly Hillbillies street signs.
Commissioners have approved zoning changes for the resorts first phase, including a 40,000-square-foot casino, a 5-story, 240-room hotel and a movie complex.
The only opposition to Baer's sign was voiced by Shepherd of the Sierra Church across the highway from the casino site.
