Whitehall Township Board of Commissioners, at the April 4 workshop meeting, heard from Lois Arciszewski and James Preston regarding a Zephyr Pride Foundation digital billboard.

The double-sided digital billboard, to be placed at 2862 MacArthur Road, was first proposed in 2007.

Arciszewski, real estate manager for Adams Outdoor Advertising, said the billboard company currently has a case open with the township’s zoning hearing board. One part of the case is variance relief in four categories - distance from residence, distance from residential district, dwell time and front yard setback.

Simply put, dwell time is how long the message or picture stays on the billboard. Whitehall’s ordinance requires a dwell time of 15 seconds, while Pennsylvania Department of Transportation only requires five seconds. Many nearby municipalities with digital billboards have a dwell time of eight to 10 seconds, which is the time Arciszewski is requesting.

The other is a validity challenge, which argues the ordinance is “not content neutral,” or that the contents are specific.

If granted, the variance relief would only be effective for this specific billboard.

Other items discussed in regards to the billboard included its size, brightness and change time.

The billboard, as proposed, is 10 feet high and 30 feet in length, for a total of 300 square feet. Whitehall’s ordinance has a maximum of 360 square feet.

According to Arciszewski, the billboard’s brightness will automatically adjust to surrounding natural and man-made light sources. She also mentioned the change time between different displays has to be less than one second.

Preston represents Adams Outdoor Advertising in a legal capacity.

In other business, commissioners discussed Resolution 3199, authorizing a sidewalk maintenance agreement with PennDOT regarding the Race Street bridge. This contract would be similar to the contract the township has with Northampton for the Northampton-Cementon Bridge.

It was also mentioned the township would not be responsible for sidewalk maintenance on both bridges in the same year. Voting on the resolution will take place at the commissioners’ next meeting.

The commissioners will also vote on motions relating to the appointment of a member and two alternates to the Environmental Advisory Council.

The board of commissioners will next meet 7 p.m. April 11 in the Coplay Whitehall Sewer Authority meeting room at 3213 MacArthur Road.