City planners OK Fuji Park as venue for Campagni's car show

Over Memorial Day weekend, Fuji Park will host Dick Campagni's commercial car show, but the salesmen may have to tape their mouths shut, a Carson City planning commissioner said at the Wednesday meeting.

The 4-3 decision in favor of the three-day car showcase in the park, which borders the fairgrounds in South Carson City, opposed the opinion given by Carson City planning staff. The parks and recreation commission also opposed taking any recreational space from the public for a car show dedicated to one dealer.

Commissioner Mark Kimbrough said he doesn't know how the staff will refrain from the temptation of selling, but one option would be to "have the salesmen Duct taped so they can't talk about sales."

Commissioner Bill Vance said he sees this as a recreational car show because no sales will be allowed on site. But he's in favor of the sales it could promote. He joined with commissioners Craig Mullet, Kimbrough and Steve Reynolds in approving Campagni's car show.

"I think it does a good job of promoting Carson City commerce, and we want to encourage that strongly," Vance said.

Commissioners Roy Semmens, Connie Bisbee and Chairman John Peery cast the opposing votes. Bisbee said simply moving an existing car lot to a public location isn't a car show.

"I can't imagine that the purpose of doing this isn't to sell cars," she said. "And I think it's very inappropriate in a public park over Memorial Day."

The commissioners feared setting the precedent of allowing a commercial car show in the park which features only one auto dealer, rather than a show hosted by an auto association. New cars from three of Campagni's dealerships - Carson City Toyota, Capital Ford and Carson City Mazda Hyundai - will be featured in the show.

Tim Milligan, general sales manager for Capital Ford, said the new car display will probably be set up on the lawn May 25. The show is from May 26-28. Featuring up to 135 cars, it will be about one-third the size of Run Wha Cha Brung, a classic car show sponsored by the Karson Kruzers.

"Carson City is always supportive," Milligan said. "Our next step is the fine details and getting a game plan set up."

He said the point of the show is to offer something different to the area and present an economic gain for the city. Fuji Park was chosen because of its proximity to traffic from Douglas County, Lake Tahoe and Costco.

n Contact reporter Becky Bosshart at bbosshart@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1212.