Town wants billboard advertising revenue
Officials want $30,000 for firm’s use of sign
on land since 1999
SOUTH BRUNSWICK — Officials want the owner of a Route 1 billboard to "show them the money."
During a meeting last week, Township Council members directed Township Attorney Don Sears to try to get some $30,000 they believe they are owed in advertising revenue from a billboard on Route 1.
The billboard is located on the 86 acres of open space at the intersection of Beekman Road and Route 1 purchased by the township in 1999 for $5 million.
"It is our billboard," Councilman Ted Van Hessen said during the meeting.
Sears told the council that it indeed owns the land that the billboard is on, and has since closing the open space purchase in the fall of 1999.
Sears also said that the board is owned by Interstate Outdoor Advertising, Cherry Hill.
That firm had a lease with former land owners, the Seltzer Organization and R.C. Maxwell Co., renting the land for the sign for about $3,000 per year.
That lease, according to Sears, had expired in 1995, but the parties continued the agreement on a year-to-year basis.
Sears said that in addition to rent, the firm offered to share advertising revenue with the township, if it could pursue a lease agreement.
Sears said that the firm estimated that the town could earn between $8,000 and $10,000 each year in revenue besides any rent.
Deputy Mayor Frank Gambatese said, during the meeting, that the billboard should be removed due to a recent ordinance limiting billboards to the industrial zones off the N.J. Turnpike.
"That is where they belong. This should come down," Gambatese said.
Township Manager Matt Watkins said that Sears would notify the owner, and that the board would be removed as fast as possible.
Currently, the board is being used by Princeton Audi for advertising, according to Public Affairs Coordinator Ron Schmalz.
Schmalz said Wednesday that Sears did send Jeffrey Gerber of Interstate Outdoor Advertising a letter demanding that the sign be removed, and that Gerber compensate the township for a share of the advertising revenue.
The township is asking for about $30,000 in revenue for the last three years, according to Schmalz.
Gerber did not return repeated calls to his business seeking comment on the council’s action.
Schmalz said that because the land was purchased for open space, the township could not enter into an agreement with Gerber’s company without getting approval from voters through a referendum on the issue.
The township recently broke ground on developing the parcel for a passive recreation park called Beechwoods.
That open space purchase contributed to the more than 400 acres bought by the township and county in recent years.
Voters approved a 2 cent open space tax in 1996, and started a fund for the money the next year.
Since then, the fund has collected nearly $2 million to help fund purchases.
In addition to the township, Middlesex County has also helped fund purchases, according to the township.
The county paid $148,000 to help the town buy 17 acres on Old Road in March 1999, and contributed $438,500 of the $1.3 million for 77 acres on Culver Road in August, 2000.
The county has also purchased several township parcels for open space on its own.