East Pikeland Billboard Hearing Postponed

A court stenographer didn’t show up and therefore a scheduled hearing on a substantive validity challenge by Chester County Outdoor was postponed until the end of the month.

Only a handful of people showed up for the East Pikeland Zoning Hearing Board meeting Wednesday evening. The East Pikeland Elementary School hearing had been cut from the agenda earlier in the day, leaving the electronic billboard matter as the sole agenda item.

Attorney Amee Farrell was on hand along with Patrick Wolfington to represent Chester County Outdoor. The billboard advertising company brought forth a substantive validity challenge for two sections of the township’s zoning ordinance.

Though the challenge takes on the general zoning ordinance, alleging that commercial off-premises advertising billboards are not allowed in the township, it must be tied to a specific site. In this case, it’s Harmony Auto Center, located at 458 Schuylkill Road.

Wednesday’s hearing came just a day after the East Pikeland Board of Supervisors passed a resolution declaring part of the township’s sign ordinance substantively invalid. One of the sections of the sign ordinance declared invalid is also covered under the Chester County Outdoor challenge.

The declaration passed by the board states that the township does not permit commercial off-premises billboards, representing a complete prohibition of those types of signs in the township. According to law, municipalities must provide for all uses within their borders, and Chester County Outdoor’s challenge states that East Pikeland Township does not allow for the use of off-premises commercial billboards.

Wendy McLean, solicitor for the zoning hearing board, said after Wednesday’s session that the board of supervisors’ declaration came after Chester County Outdoor asked for a zoning hearing on the matter. Therefore, the board’s decision came too late to have an effect on the Chester County Outdoor challenge.

The supervisors’ declaration also proposed that the township come up with a curative amendment to the sign ordinance to fix the fact that it does not allow for commercial off-premises signs and limits signs to 30-square feet. The township has 180 days to come up with that curative amendment, which will likely help the township better regulate proposed billboards in the future.

The hearing for Chester County Outdoor will take place on Feb. 29. According to law, a municipality must have a hearing on a substantive validity challenge within 60 days of the application unless the applicant agrees to an extension in writing. Otherwise, the application is deemed denied. Farrell said she’d be willing to sign a note stating that the applicant is fine with the extension beyond the 60-day window to Feb. 29.

In Westtown Township, Chester County Outdoor issued a challenge against the township, and the township later amended its zoning ordinance to create a zoning district where billboards are allowed. The billboard company worked with the township and chose a different location than the one originally proposed, coming to a settlement agreement. The 48-foot wide, 14-foot tall Westtown billboard is set to be completed in early February, according to the Delaware County Daily Times.

Chester County Outdoor brought a similar substantive validity challenge to Phoenixville Borough, with the challenge tied to three locations along Nutt Road. A decision in that hearing is expected at the borough’s zoning hearing board meeting on Feb. 15.