Planning committee reviews conditional use for a 65‑foot digital billboard near I‑277

Kenjo Outdoor Advertising presented a conditional use request to install a double‑faced, 65‑foot‑tall digital billboard approximately 910 feet east of an I‑76 overpass and roughly 810 feet from other recently approved displays. The applicant said digital panels would have automatic brightness adjustment and met lighting standards; planning staff said the proposal meets most zoning requirements but conflicts with a 1,000‑foot spacing standard and noted precedent for similar interstate‑oriented signs.

Applicant Dan Nielsen said the site owner is a local excavator, the company has other signs in Akron, and a light study shows no residential impact. A virtual testifier, Jason Prosser, said the parcel has a long history of water flow and flooding that has affected adjacent properties; he asked where power for the sign will come from, how far from the drainage ditch the sign would be sited, and how maintenance access would be provided. The applicant responded that the landowner had obtained a FEMA permit, that land disturbance would be limited (described as a 12x12x12 excavation for footing/pipe), and that power would likely come from McIntosh Avenue via an underground lateral.

Planning staff and the committee asked for any wetland/stormwater/grading reports to be included with the permitting process; the applicant said those reports would be provided with permit submissions. The committee closed the public hearing portion and deferred final action to the 5:00 p.m. full‑council hearing.