Arguments in Tarentum billboard case rescheduled
An Allegheny County judge has rescheduled oral arguments in the case of a company fighting to put up a billboard in Tarentum.
Arguments are scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Nov. 21 in Courtroom 7 on the 7th floor of the City-County Building in Downtown Pittsburgh, according to an order signed by Judge Joseph James.
America First Enterprises, doing business as Oliver Outdoor, is appealing a May decision by the borough’s Zoning Hearing Board denying it the right to place a billboard at the borough’s end of the Tarentum Bridge. The digital sign, measuring 48 feet wide and 14 feet high, would be atop a pole at 107 E. Fourth Ave.
The borough’s code enforcement officer denied the company a permit for the sign on the basis that the property is in the borough’s commercial center zoning district where billboards are not allowed.
In its appeal, the company argues the borough’s zoning ordinance is unconstitutional because it does not allow billboards anywhere in the borough.
The borough has denied that, claiming areas where billboards are allowed are clearly identified despite errors in the borough’s zoning map and the regulations available on its website.
The company wants the court to vacate the Zoning Hearing Board’s decision and direct Tarentum officials to issue a permit for the billboard.
Brian C. Rittmeyer, a Pittsburgh native and graduate of Penn State University's Schreyer Honors College, has been with the Trib since December 2000. He can be reached at brittmeyer@triblive.com.
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