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Board approves relocation and LED conversion of billboard near North Sixth Street; conditions include PennDOT sign-off and transition limit
Summary
The zoning board approved Lamar Advertising’s application to relocate a billboard from a Norfolk Southern rail yard to property at 3737–3745 North Sixth Street, permitting an LED face and granting relief subject to PennDOT approval and a six‑transitions‑per‑minute limit.
The Harrisburg Zoning Hearing Board approved Lamar Advertising’s request to relocate an existing two‑sided static billboard from the Norfolk Southern rail yard to property at 3737 and 3745 North Sixth Street and to convert the face to a single‑sided LED message board.
Chair Claude Phipps, sitting as the sole decision maker at the hearing, approved the application with the City of Harrisburg Planning Commission’s recommended conditions. The planning commission’s conditions require the applicant to obtain Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) approval and to limit electronic message transitions to six per minute, consistent with prior approvals.
Jeffrey Knight, the city’s planning director, said the proposed sign will face east over the Norfolk Southern rail yard and Interstate 81 and that relocating the sign will move a visible face away from some nearby residential lots in Susquehanna Township. Knight told the board the relocation and digital conversion are part of a larger consolidation of faces necessitated by highway projects and modernization of the applicant’s inventory.
Andy Reebuck of Lamar Advertising described access challenges at the Norfolk Southern yard that motivated the relocation. Reebuck said the yard’s operations limit safe servicing of the existing sign and that obtaining city relief and converting to a single‑sided unit were steps to address the problem.
Board members discussed height. Reebuck and others indicated the replacement sign would be similar in overall height to the existing structure; one speaker referenced a total height in the upper 60‑foot range (approximately 67 feet) though the exact final height was not documented in the hearing record and will be confirmed in permit reviews.
The planning commission also noted the applicant had notified Susquehanna Township; the city received no objections at the time of the commission’s review.
Phipps approved the application on the record and directed staff to issue a written decision reflecting the planning commission conditions.
Ending: The board’s approval is conditioned on subsequent PennDOT approval and a written decision to follow.
