Ridgewood rejects Route 17 digital billboard proposal after 10 hearings

RIDGEWOOD — The village has rejected a proposal to install a digital billboard on a strip mall property along Route 17.

Outfront Media LLC wanted to install a double-sided digital billboard that was 35 feet wide by 10 feet tall at the site of the Tire and Wheel Performance Center at 500 Route 17 south.

After 10 hearings that started in March 2022, the Zoning Board of Adjustment unanimously rejected the proposal at Tuesday night's meeting.

Residents arrived at the meeting with a "No Billboard" sign spelled out on poster boards and applauded as each of the board's seven members gave their reasons for voting against it.

"Introducing a second and non-permitted use on the property contradicts our current zoning regulations to limit one principal use per property," Chairman Gregory Brown said. "The applicant has also requested a height variance for the billboard at 40 feet, where the maximum allowable height is 30 feet. Although the applicant argues this height as necessary, comparing it to a cell tower, which provides significant public benefit, it is inappropriate, as a billboard primarily benefits private interests."

The applicant sought 10 variances for the project, four use variances and six bulk variances.

Use variance relief:

• Prohibited use at the proposed site;
• A second principal use at the site;
• Expansion of non-conforming use;
• Height variance: 30-foot limit, 40-foot proposed;

Bulk variance relief:

• Minimum side yard setback: 12 feet required, 10 feet proposed;
• Exterior sign: one allowed, two proposed;
• On-premises advertising allowed, off-premises advertising proposed;
• A sign area of 60 square feet is permitted for a two-sided sign, 749 square feet proposed
• Sign height: 15 feet permitted, 40 feet proposed
• Sign illumination not visible to the street or adjoining properties required; sign visible to same proposed.

Expansion of a non-conforming use is a particularly difficult variance to obtain, as it creates a precedent to allow other non-conforming uses on the site and possibly the entire community.

The state Department of Transportation issued a permit for the project, as far as its jurisdiction would allow. It sets a minimum distance between such signs at 3,000 linear feet. The proposed village site was 9 miles south of a digital billboard on the Route 17 property of the Ramsey Home Depot, and 9 miles north of the Route 17 digital Essex Street billboard in Maywood.

Resident Cynthia O'Keefe of West Saddle River Road, across Route 17 from the proposed site, said her concern was the round-the-clock light from the sign.

"I am very happy with the outcome," O'Keefe said after the vote. "It would cause sleep deprivation having that light on all night."

Frank Mortimer lives a mile north of the site and said he was concerned about the visual impact of the billboard on nearby historic structures, particularly the Old Paramus Reformed Church immediately south of the site.

"The church is a Revolutionary War-era historic property," Mortimer said. "It would be offensive to hide this view behind a billboard."

Outfront Media attorney Louis D'Arminio declined to comment on the possibility of an appeal. However, Douglas Standriff, attorney for objector AK Realty, said his client was "very happy that this application was defeated."

"My clients remained steadfast over the more than two years it took to bring the application to a vote," Standriff said. "The proposed site was simply not appropriate for a digital billboard of this size."

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Ridgewood rejects Route 17 digital billboard proposal after 10 hearings