Settlement trades one new LED structure for nine static faces and a seven-year conversion freeze
The Red Bank, NEw Jersey Zoning Board of Adjustment voted 6–1 to approve an OUTFRONT Media digital billboard, closing out a multiyear fight that began with a denial and ended in federal litigation.
The 43-foot-tall LED sign will go up in the parking lot at 56 Newman Springs Road, replacing the existing sign for Circus Wine, Beer & Spirits, according to Red Bank Green.
A settlement with a condition
The approval traces back to November 2024, when the board denied OUTFRONT’s plan to replace its static billboard at 187 Riverside Ave., at the borough’s northern entrance, with a digital face. OUTFRONT sued the borough in 2025.
The two sides reached a settlement this spring. OUTFRONT agreed to drop its lawsuit if the board approved a digital billboard at the Newman Springs Road site. Had the board said no, the settlement would have been void and the litigation would have resumed.
What the borough gets
OUTFRONT committed to remove nine static billboard faces at five locations around town, including four on Shrewsbury Avenue near the Galleria. The company’s attorney, Jennifer Krimko, told the board those removals must happen before the new sign is built.
OUTFRONT also agreed to a seven-year moratorium on converting static billboards to digital and to give the borough one-eighth of the new sign’s advertising time, among other concessions.
Krimko told the board the sign would produce “zero” light intrusion into nearby residential areas. It will use “Narrow View” technology, which dims the display when viewed from an angle.
Board split on the logic, not the outcome
Several members pointed to the removals as the deciding factor. Board Chairman Ray Mass said the borough gets “a bunch of signs taken down,” which he called a positive and said could help strengthen the borough’s billboard ordinance over time.
OUTFRONT’s planner, Michael Cauker, argued the new site sits in a commercial highway district, while the signs coming down are in locations the borough’s master plan considers inappropriate for billboards.
Board member Jonathan Gilday, the lone no vote, questioned that reasoning. He said he had a hard time reconciling how the moratorium and removals make this particular site better suited than any other.
Board member Eugene Horowitz summed up the mood: “I think that there’s nobody here doing a happy dance, and I think that’s the sign of a good compromise.”
To receive a free morning newsletter with each day’s Billboard insider articles email info@billboardinsider.com with the word “Subscribe” in the title. Our newsletter is free and we don’t sell our subscriber list.
Paid Advertisement
