Zoners approve Heller's bid for 85-foot sign
BY JAY BODAS
Staff Writer

EDISON - The Zoning Board has approved an application for an electronic sign that is 70 feet higher than allowed by the township ordinance.

Board members voted 5-to-2 to approve Heller Industrial Park's application for an 85-foot electronic sign on its property near the New Jersey Turnpike.

"When I first started out, I was borderline," said board member Rosemary Feterek as she cast her vote at the Oct. 17 meeting. "But now I really believe the positives do outweigh the negatives."

The sign would be 70 feet higher than the 15-foot limit allowed by township ordinance and would be the fourth advertising sign Heller has on its property.

Witnesses for Heller included Columbia University professor Thomas Banker, who testified as an expert in economics and municipal finance.

"Heller Industrial Park supports about 4,200 employees, which is 7.5 percent of the total employment in the township," Banker said. "It is the largest taxpayer in the municipality."

Banker said that warehouse space leases are much shorter than when the company was founded.

"Now, in the modern industrial marketplace, leases are only three to five years, and there is a high degree of turnover," he said.

The sign would allow Heller to better compete with the New Jersey Convention and Exposition Center's Raritan Center, Banker said.

The sign's height would allow it to be visible to turnpike traffic, said Heller attorney Ryan Marrone.

"The sign will not blink or scroll because that is a gimmick to try and attract peoples' attention," Marrone said.

James Demuro, a surveyor for the applicant, said that residential homes 1,500 feet away would not be able to see the billboard.

Resident Steve Martin supported the application.

"We are going to lose The New York Times plant, and we already lost the Ford plant," Martin said. "We have to fight as a town to keep the value of businesses coming into town."

Resident Dorothy Rubenstein agreed.

"So my concern is why this township would not support a modest application from an industry that provides the largest taxes for Edison Township, and I believe Middlesex County as well," she said.

Resident Robert Takash called the proposed billboard a "monstrosity."

"Sky trash is just as bad as something that is built poorly that is not following the zoning ordinance," Takash said. "I think we need to uphold protections to limit nonconforming signs like the one proposed here."

Heller owner Isaac Heller asked the board to consider the benefits of the sign.

"It allows a company in a major industry to compete," he said. "We have to do everything we can to market our product."

Board members Randolph Holmes III and Robert Butvilla voted against the application.