LED Billboard Construction on Route 37 Still Uncertain

As you drive Route 37 eastbound after the Garden State Parkway exit and entrance, look right. On the corner of Route 37 and Main Street is the site of a proposed electronic billboard.

Jersey Outdoor Media had a proposal before the zoning board to place an LED-lit billboard at that location, measuring 600 square feet at 40 feet high.

The initial proposal was denied by the Toms River Zoning Board of Adjustment, but Jersey Outdoor Media had the chance to appeal on Thursday, May 26.

When the meeting took place at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, a company representative did not appear before the board to give an appeal.  After board members had a short discussion amongst themselves, they had decided to vote for a motion to deny the application again. 

The vote was 4-3 in favor of denying it, but the board needed five votes to pass it.  Thusly the motion did not carry, and a new resolution of denial has been scheduled for June 23 at 7:30 p.m.

Jersey Outdoor Media had wanted to construct a 40-foot-high electronic LED billboard on Route 37 in Toms River, which would have taken up 600 square feet. 

The purpose of the billboard would be for commercial advertising, but according to the application, Toms River Township’s emergency services would have free access to it for announcements such as Amber Alerts.

The billboard would be the first of its kind for Route 37. Currently only a few static, print billboards can be found on the state road, such as one west of Walmart.

The proposed billboard site coincides with an intersection heavy with parkway commuters and summer visitors at peak times, and with traffic to nearby shopping and the downtown corridor throughout the day.