Edison looking to crack down on billboards amid lawsuit
EDISON – The Township Council is scrutinizing billboard regulations, after the Zoning Board of Adjustment last year rejected plans to build one which resulted in a lawsuit.
The Council recently introduced a 10-page ordinance aimed at amending zoning guidelines for billboards, and a public hearing is scheduled for later this month.
The ordinance is intended to provide specific zoning conditions and standards for free-standing off-premises billboards while balancing constitutionally protected free speech with the need to safeguard the public good.
Under the ordinance, billboards will be permitted in light industrial zones and must be freestanding and not attached to an external wall or any part of a building. The ordinance also sets size restrictions for the signs based on the posted speed limit of the road the sign faces, with the maximum height of 15 feet and maximum width of 20 feet in all posted speed limits up to 65 mph, and maximum sign area of 60 to 200 square feet based on the posted speed limit.
The ordinance also states that no billboards shall encroach upon front yard, rear yard or side yard setbacks and no billboard can be located closer than 25 feet from any property line.
Other restrictions included in the ordinance are billboards can be no closer than 50 feet from any building, structure or on-premises sign located on the same property; no closer than 2,500 feet from other off-premises sign on either side of the road and cannot be located within 500 feet from any intersection, interchange or safety rest area.
The ordinance also requires that off-premises signs be at least 500 feet from any public park or playground, religious institution, cemetery, school or residential district or on sewer rights of ways, water, electric or petroleum pipelines or bridges.
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The ordinance also allows for only one off-premises sign per lot, but no vertical or horizontal stacked signs. Signs, however, may be double-sided.
All signs will have the display visible only from a state or interstate highway, not local roads or residential properties.
Signs will not be permitted to display any message or graphic of an obscene or pornographic nature, give the illusion of movement, changing imagery, flashing, scrolling or blinking and the message or graphic on the billboard cannot be changed more than once a day.
The ordinance also restricts off-premises advertising signs on moving vehicles, interactive signs or signs that move, produce noise or smoke, steam, visible vapors or particles.
Billboards also will be required to be certified by a licensed engineer, maintained in good condition and undergo a structural inspection every three years. The signs also will be required to identify the name, address and phone number of the owner.
Under the ordinance external illumination lighting must be from a steady, stationary light source directed solely at the sign and internal illumination must be from non-glaring lights or illuminated by shielded floodlights. Signs cannot be illuminated by flashing or blinking lights.
The ordinance also sets other restrictions about the brightness of billboard lights which will be in effect from 30 minutes after sunset to 30 minutes before sunrise.
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In addition, all billboards will be required to have the capability to override the displayed message to permit the township to post an emergency message.
From September 2022 to February 2023, American Outdoor Advertising presented plans to the township Zoning Board of Adjustment to build a V-shaped, 100-foot-tall digital billboard on property located at 740 Old Post Road in a light industrial zone. Plans called for the billboard to face northbound and southbound New Jersey Turnpike traffic, with real-time messages changing every eight seconds.
In that zone, billboards are a conditional use and must be one-sided, 15 feet high, 250 square feet wide and not within 2,500 feet of another sign. The billboard was designed to face the highway and away from the nearby residential neighborhood.
The Board rejected the application and its chairman at that time noted the Board's requests, for conditions of making the sign static and one-sided, reducing the height and turning off digital lights at night, were all rejected by the applicant.
Court records show the lawsuit, which alleges the application was prejudged before being presented or any witnesses testifying, is scheduled to go to trial in late June.
Email: srussell@gannettnj.com
Suzanne Russell is a breaking news reporter for MyCentralJersey.com covering crime, courts and other mayhem. To get unlimited access, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Edison NJ looking to crack down on billboards amid lawsuit
