Dayton restaurant takes sign case to people

DAYTON - With a petition of more than 650 signatures supporting her cause, Mia's Restaurant owner Mia Kuerzi is confident she will prevail over the Comstock Historic District.

Kuerzi and her husband Max have been gathering signatures and seeking support from customers and residents asking to leave the restaurant's signs in their present condition.

However, the matter has already been turned over to the attorney general's office, according to historic commission member Ron James.

"We are going to the attorney general's office," James said. "We've made it clear previously that we've asked the attorney general's office to do what they need to do to implement the law."

James said the Kuerzis can avoid the conflict by complying with the historic district's requirements.

At issue is the sign appearing on the front of the restaurant, which is in the historic Odeon Hall.

Built in 1863 for the Odd Fellows, stores were located in the bottom stories with offices and the lodge in the second floor. Fires damaged the building in 1866 and 1870, when it was purchased and rebuilt with a saloon and billiard room on the first floor and the Melodeon Hall on the second floor.

The Kuerzis purchased the hall in 1988.

In July 1999 they painted over the large Odeon Hall sign that occupied the east side of the building on Pike Street. On the front, they painted the name of the restaurant, sparking complaints from some Dayton residents and the present conflict with the historic district.

Mia Kuerzi says she and Max have done a lot of work restoring the old building over the past decade, but that she won't remove the sign.

"The whole building was in terrible shape when we took it over," she said. "I won't take my business sign down. It was about time after 11 years that we put our sign out front."

James agreed that the Kuerzis have done a good job restoring the hall.

"They have really done a lot of work in preserving that building," he said. "But that doesn't mean we can let them go on this issue."

According to historic district commission minutes, the Kuerzis agreed to a compromise that would have them rehabilitating the front of the building while three Dayton groups worked on the side of the building.

"I believe the owners of the restaurant could avoid a judiciary conflict by accepting the generous offer by their neighbors," James said. "They seem to think they can find respite in the courts."

James said that the district, which encompasses Virginia City, Gold Hill, Silver City and Dayton, has discussed moving its boundaries out of Dayton.

"If the public said we don't want part of Dayton," James said. "I don't see any reason to be fighting gravity."