East Deer zoning board recommends approval of 3 billboards; decision pending on a 4th

East Deer’s zoning hearing board found the township’s zoning ordinance is exclusionary regarding billboards and recommended, for now, approval of three of four billboards proposed by America First Enterprises.

The board held a public hearing on America First Enterprises’ proposal for four billboards in the township June 29. The company, which does business as Oliver Outdoor, recently won a yearslong court battle against Tarentum over erecting a billboard next to the Tarentum Bridge.

In East Deer’s case, Oliver claimed the township’s ordinance was substantively invalid because of its total exclusion of billboards as a use.

Oliver proposed two double-faced billboards at 1101 Freeport Road — one with a display area of 14-by-48 feet and rising 82 feet and the second measuring 12-by-29 feet and rising 29 feet. That site is within the township’s neighborhood and highway commercial district.

The third billboard, a single-faced display measuring 14-by-48 feet and 82 feet high, would be at 1300 Freeport Road in an industrial-zoned district.

The zoning board recommended approval of those three billboards.

But the fourth billboard, a double-faced display that is 14-by-48 feet and 57 feet high at 918 Bellview St., requires “more deliberation and dialogue” between the township and Oliver Outdoor before approval can be considered, the zoning board ruled.

The zoning board wrote in its findings that the site is a vacant lot between several homes: The lot is “poorly maintained and is characterized by a collection of trees, weeds and underbrush and is quite unsightly.”

It asked whether the site should be improved before a billboard is built, whether Oliver would need to maintain the site and whether it is reasonable to request expert renderings of the site as it would appear if a billboard is erected. The findings also note the impact on residents in the Bellview Street area should be considered before a determination is made.

The township’s zoning ordinance, the zoning board wrote, defines billboards but, with terminology found in other sections, excludes any construction of billboards.

During the June hearing, Oliver read from language in the section about signs that says, “No sign shall be used for display or advertising except that pertaining to the use conducted on the property or carried on within the building.”

The zoning board found signs of that type, according to definitions cited in the zoning code, are billboards.

The definitions of signs and their provisions and restrictions listed in the ordinance “fully exclude ‘billboards’ from being erected within East Deer Township,” the zoning board wrote.

Commissioners Chairman Tony Taliani testified at that hearing and said the ordinance is not exclusionary to billboards because they exist throughout the township, and billboards are mentioned multiple times within the ordinance.

The zoning board wrote there are at least 14 billboards on display along Freeport Road in the township, which are nonconforming uses, but it’s not clear whether they were built before the zoning ordinance was adopted in 1987.

The zoning board also recommended East Deer amend its zoning ordinance “that cures the exclusionary defect identified during the course of these proceedings and ensure that such an amendment will withstand any future substantive validity challenges.”

A proposal regulating billboards is working its way through township government. The commissioners this month referred the draft to township and county planners.

Reached Tuesday afternoon, Taliani said the township will confer with its solicitor to discuss the findings and how to proceed. If the township wanted to appeal, it would have 30 days to do so.

Attempts to reach Maureen Sweeney, the attorney representing Oliver Outdoor, were unsuccessful.