Bayonne, NJ Sign Regulations: Freeway-Facing Signs (2026)

Bayonne City Code § 35-5.9(f), the Special Requirements clause of the C-2 Community Commercial District, creates the Limited Commercial Overlay Zone District after the City Council found that billboards, having been banned citywide, could be permitted adjacent to the New Jersey Turnpike without harming residential areas. To qualify as a limited commercial use billboard, a structure must sit no more than 200 feet from the Turnpike property line, be designed and built so its advertising surface is viewed primarily by Turnpike motorists, and stay at least 200 feet from any residential zone.

Height is capped at 50 feet, measured from the finished elevation of the Turnpike at the point where the sign stands, and no two billboards may sit closer than 2,000 feet apart along the same side of the highway. A qualifying billboard may carry two advertising faces, one per direction of travel, and each face is capped at 672 square feet, with copy extensions or cutouts limited to 10% of that area beyond the basic billboard. Applicants must also satisfy the state Roadside Sign Control and Outdoor Advertising Act, N.J.S.A.

27:5-5 et seq., and its regulations at N.J.A.C. 16:41C-1.1 et seq. Outside the billboard use itself, the Overlay District limits other development to non-intensive C-2 commercial uses such as small retail stores under 2,000 square feet and essential services defined at § 33-2.2; motor vehicle repair garages are excluded even though they are a conditional use elsewhere in the C-2 district.