MIDDLESEX TWP — A few residents voiced their opposition to a proposed billboard at 1311 Pittsburgh Road during a public hearing held at the township supervisors’ regular meeting Wednesday.

The billboard in question has been through legal battles that date back six years. No action at the meeting was taken in regard to the approval or denial of the billboard.

In 2016, America First Enterprises LLP, filed three conditional use applications for three billboards in the area. The zoning board originally sent the applications back to America First as incomplete before deciding to hear the company’s validity challenge.

The zoning hearing board denied the validity challenge at one time and a trial court in 2018 reaffirmed that decision upon appeal. The validity challenge was denied by the hearing board on the grounds with them determining that the ordinance needs to be given its plain meaning. This led to another appeal, and in 2021, the commonwealth court of Pennsylvania ruled that some ordinances, due to being conflicting, were invalid.

“I’ve been doing this for 37 years and this is probably only the second time, in that period of time, I’ve come back to a municipality on a remand from a court,” said Dwight Ferguson, who represented America First Enterprises, at the hearing.

America First Enterprises was given the ability to re-file their conditional use application, which they did for one of the three. Its approval is now determined by the suitability of the site selected and if the billboard would provide any public health risks.

Three local residents testified against the billboard, citing safety risks. The main concern among residents was that an LED billboard would distract drivers and lead to more accidents on the road, whereas America First was there to testify that they met the remaining ordinances needed for the billboard.

“I think sometimes when you look at the speed on Route 8,” said resident Dave McMaster, “and you take your eyes off to look at a billboard. Yeah, it is concerning.”

At one point during the hearing, Ferguson asked one resident who testified where he had heard that the board of supervisors was going to approve the billboard. The resident said it was the “word on the street.”

Several residents outright said that they disapproved of the billboard. One resident even asked the crowd at the hearing to raise their hand if they disapproved of the billboard, to which almost everyone in attendance obliged.

The billboard proposed was created by the company Watchfire, and an engineer from the company testified via the phone about the sign, mainly addressing the concerns over how bright it would be. The sign itself will have dimensions of 40x12 feet and display multiple advertisements throughout the day, switching them periodically.

The fate of the billboard didn’t come to a vote Wednesday. There was discussion about revisiting the conversation at the 3 p.m. Dec. 7 work session or the 7 p.m. Dec. 21 action meeting.

The date was not determined, but the agenda for the meetings are made available to the public 24 hours prior a meeting on the township’s website.