Whitpain Township Draws Up Billboard Ordinance

has proactively drafted an ordinance to control the type, size and location of billboards in the township.

The ordinance creates an Off-Premise Advertising Sign Overlay District as part of the township’s zoning map and will be subject to a public hearing on March 20. The Board of Supervisors plan to vote on the ordinance that evening.

The new zoning district would begin at “Township Line Road and spread north, covering the properties near Unisys, according to Pronczak. It would then stop so as to not include the residential neighborhoods before picking up again on the western side of DeKalb Pike where the PECO right-of-way lies,” reports the Ambler Gazette.

“The proposed sign overlay district would establish regulations, construction standards and allowed locations for third-party billboard advertising,” according to the Ambler Gazette.

Placement of billboards, per the ordinance, would prohibit billboards to be constructed within 1,000 ft. of each other. Additionally, the ordinance states that billboards cannot be placed within 20 feet of a property line, within 25 feet of a street or within 1,000 feet of a residence.

“The ordinance establishes dimensional limitations for billboards. No billboard could exceed 35 feet in height, while the sign face would be limited to a maximum of 300 square feet, 20 feet in length and 15 feet in width”, reports the Ambler Gazette.

All applications for billboards would have to go before the Board of Supervisors before being approved.