Company battling for Tarentum billboard pursuing signs in Harrison, too

A company fighting in court to put billboards in Tarentum now wants to place two in Harrison.

Oliver Development wants to put two signs atop a pole on property along Alter Road, next to Route 28, according to documents the company has filed with the township. The vacant land is between Saxonburg Road and Stobert Lane.

The exact location for the proposed billboards on the parcel was not shown in the documents that the township made available for inspection. The type of billboard was not specified.

The property is in a conservation zone, according to the township’s zoning map. Harrison allows billboards, subject to limitations, only in its manufacturing districts.

The company first applied for a zoning certificate in April. It was denied in May, and the company applied for a variance in June.

The township denied the company’s initial request because it does not conform with the zoning in that area, township Manager Rich Hill said.

The Harrison Zoning Hearing Board scheduled a public hearing on the company’s request for a variance for 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 11, at the municipal building.

An Oliver representative did not respond to requests for comment.

In its request to the township, Oliver says the property has no other feasible use because of its terrain and proximity to the highway.

As in Tarentum, the proposed Harrison billboards would be in a “V” shape atop a pole. Each sign would be 14 feet high and 48 feet wide. The project would cost $100,000.

The company is fighting in court for permission to place a billboard at Tarentum’s end of the Tarentum Bridge.

Tarentum’s zoning hearing board in June rejected the company’s appeal to place a two-faced, digital sign atop a pole standing on East Fourth Avenue. It would be tall enough to see from the bridge.

The decision came following a hearing in May, prompted by zoning Officer Anthony Bruni denying the company’s request based on it not complying with the borough’s zoning regulations.

The company appealed to court in late June, arguing that Tarentum’s zoning ordinance is unconstitutional because it does not allow billboards anywhere in the borough. It wants an Allegheny County judge to vacate the zoning hearing board decision and order the borough to issue a permit for the billboard.

Parties in the Tarentum case have been ordered to file briefs in support of their positions by Oct. 2.