Elizabeth, NJ Outdoor Lighting: Billboard Lighting (2026)

Billboards are a conditional use permitted in any zoning district, but only when located on or within 300 feet of a state or federal highway route or passenger rail facility. Before one can be built, the applicant must secure a billboard siting plan, approved by the planning board, that controls the entire system of billboards the applicant maintains along a given route and weighs the cumulative impact of all billboards, including those maintained by others. The plan must keep billboards out of areas the master plan designates residential, and mitigate visibility (through height limits or funded off-site plantings) within 600 feet of such areas.

It must also prevent billboard messages from being legible from any church, school, playground or park within 1,000 feet, avoid degrading scenic vistas and historic structures within 2,000 feet, and keep faces from obstructing traffic signs and devices within 250 feet. Billboards and freestanding signs larger than 300 square feet are classified as a conditional use requiring planning board approval, must sit at least 2,000 feet from any other billboard or freestanding sign and at least 500 feet from any residential use, and require a surveyor-certified location survey.

80 per square foot of advertising space with a $240 minimum annual fee. Billboards over 300 square feet that predate the ordinance may continue only if spaced under the 2,000-foot rule and if the owner obtained an annual license starting July 1, 1998.