Jefferson introduces detailed sign and billboard code setting limits for Route 15 and 23 gateway areas

The Jefferson Township Council on May 20 introduced Ordinance 26-19, a comprehensive revision to Chapter 490 that defines and tightly regulates billboards and off-premises identification signs in designated gateway areas along New Jersey State Highways Routes 15 and 23.

The ordinance defines multiple-message (digital) and static billboards, requires sideline-blocking or honeycomb technology for digital displays near residences, limits billboard height to 40 feet and face size to no more than 12 by 32 feet (384 square feet), and restricts the number and placement of billboards to a maximum of four along each state route (two per side in each direction). It also establishes minimum spacing between signs, lighting intensity and shielding standards, and an inventory of existing billboards and off-premises signs attached as an ordinance exhibit.

Under the proposal, multiple-message billboards must meet minimum dwell time per message, have automatic default designs that freeze or turn off in a malfunction, and allow the township emergency-use access for one message per cycle. The ordinance also creates special-permit pathways for billboards and off-premises identification signs and subjects lawfully pre-existing nonconforming signs to certification and maintenance requirements.

Deputy Township Clerk Amanda Nevins read the ordinance introduction and set the public hearing for June 10, 2026. Because this was a first reading, no final vote occurred. The ordinance's Attachment A lists an inventory of existing digital and static billboards and off-premises signs in the township's C-2, O and IP zones.