Churchill’s zoning hearing board green-lighted a double-sided electronic billboard along Rodi Road on Monday, despite opposition from Penn Hills residents.
The decision concludes a three-hearing saga that saw tense debates over legal standing and lengthy cross examination.
Ultimately, the board granted Rodi Maple Devco LLC a special exception to raise the billboard in a commercial district. It also approved a variance to reduce the setback from 100 feet to just 2 feet, provided the developer limits the amount of vegetation removed during installation.
The sign will be on an unusually shaped, steeply graded parcel in Churchill near the intersection of Rodi Road and Maple Lane, mainly advertising to drivers exiting the Parkway East in Penn Hills. According to Tim Earl, owner of Rodi Maple Devco, construction will take two days.
Expert witnesses brought forth by the applicant testified that the lot was unsuitable for other use and that the billboard would not impact traffic safety. Penn Hills residents raised a variety of concerns, from light pollution to the undoing of recent beautification efforts along the municipality’s main business corridor.
Zoning hearing board member Matthew Curtis said the applicant “did their duty to prove there was hardship” to necessitate a variance, while the opponents relied on “a lot of statements that were not backed up by fact.”
Curtis added that, by permitting the variance, the board preserved more vegetation than the standard setback.
“Almost the entire property would have been scalped,” Curtis said.
Kathy Raborn, president of the Penn Hills Shade Tree Commission, presented her case against the billboard and expressed disappointment with the decision. In June, the commission worked with the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy to install a garden near the billboard site. In October, it planted 18 trees close by.
“I’m sad that they didn’t respect the wishes of the Penn Hills and Churchill residents,” Raborn said. “We hope to continue planting more trees on Rodi Road, and we’ll continue to add more plants to the garden and try and make it a welcoming greenspace as much as possible, despite the billboard.”
Aggrieved parties have 30 days to appeal the decision to the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas.