Environmental commission urges pause on LED-billboard ordinance; township says measure limits conversions

Members of Middletown's Environmental Commission and other residents pressed the township committee on July 13 to rescind or suspend a recently revised ordinance governing LED billboards, arguing it contains inconsistent provisions and lacks measurable standards to protect residents and wildlife.

Marty Judd, reading a unanimous statement from the Environmental Commission, said the revised ordinance (identified in the statement as 2026-3052) "is flawed and contains numerous inconsistencies," pointing to provisions that permit internally lit LED billboards as large as 400 square feet and as tall as 40 feet while the ordinance elsewhere limits conventional billboards to smaller sizes and 25-foot heights. The commission asked the committee to require applicants for LED billboards to submit environmental analyses of visible light emissions and to adopt quantitative day- and nighttime brightness standards.

Township staff responded that the ordinance was specifically designed to limit where LED billboards could be placed and to avoid litigation after a New Jersey Supreme Court decision that curtailed municipal authority to impose outright bans on LED signs. A staff member said the township identified locations and structured rules so that only a limited number of sites could convert to LED; pending applications still must go before the planning board and provide notice to nearby residents under the Municipal Land Use Law.

What remains contested: The Environmental Commission and public commenters argued the ordinance does not address measurable brightness thresholds or natural receptors (bird migrations and nearshore breeding habitats). Township officials said many static billboards already exist and that the adopted language was intended to prevent an uncontrolled expansion of LED signage while preserving the township's ability to defend decisions in court.

Numbers cited in the meeting included an inventory noting about 19 billboard locations and an assertion that 11 billboard permits were pending with the New Jersey Department of Transportation; the township said its ordinance would permit LED signs only at a small subset of locations to prevent widespread conversion.

Next steps: Several committee members and staff offered to meet with Environmental Commission representatives to discuss measurable brightness standards and other technical safeguards. Any pending billboard applications will continue to be reviewed at planning-board hearings and are subject to municipal notice requirements.

Representative quotes: "The amended ordinance 2026-3052 is flawed and contains numerous inconsistencies," read Marty Judd for the Environmental Commission. A township staff member said the ordinance's purpose was to "limit the ability and the locations of these LED billboards" in light of legal constraints.

The committee did not vote on rescission or suspension during the meeting; the discussion closed after additional public comments and the meeting adjourned.