The visibility of a billboard is defined not just by the surface of the sign, but by the lease and easement protections encumbering the land. That’s the lesson of Peterpank Diner Properties, LLC and Ram-Pank v. Wawa, Inc and RETLAW 967. Here are the facts of the case.

• Outfront Media leased a property in Middlesex, New Jersey beginning in 2007.
• When the landowner Ram-Pank LLC sold their land to a developer to build a WaWa gas station, the seller reserved a perpetual easement on the land to keep collecting the billboard lease income from Outfront Media AND to protect a “billboard viewing area,” so that WaWa (and/or their developer partner Retlaw 967, LLC) would not create any obstructions when they built the new gas station.
• The Outfront Media lease had standard visibility obstruction language as follows:
  • “In the event that, in LESSEE’S sole opinion; (a)…, (b)…, (c)…, (d)…, (e)…, (f)…, (g)…, (h)…, (i)…, then LESSEE shall, at it’ option, have the right to either reasonably abate the rent until the issues with “A” through “I” above are cured, and/or terminate this Lease upon thirty (30) days notice in writing to LESSOR(S) and LESSOR(S) shall refund to LESSEE, any rental payment paid in advance for the remainder of the un-expired term.”
• The easement retained by the seller of the property had the following language included:

“The Grantor acknowledges that Grantee’s billboard and marketing tenants require as a standard provision of a lease that a clear and unobstructed view be maintained and as such as part of this easement, Grantor shall not permit any obstruction to be erected, installed or planted on Grantor’s Property that obstruct the view of the billboard from all angles of the adjacent highway to the billboard viewing areas.”

• WaWa erected a 25-foot on-premise gas price sign in the “billboard viewing areas” described in the easement.
• Attorney Darren Barreiro represented Ram-Pank and they sued WaWa and their developer Retlaw 967, LLC, asking them to lower or remove their on-premise gas price sign.
• The WaWa and Retlaw’s attorney claimed that the “billboard viewing areas” referred only to the face of the Outfront billboard displays and not an area of the land out in front of the billboard to create visibility to the highway.
• SignValue’s Paul Wright testified at trial that an easement protects and controls things that happen to an area of land, not the surface of someone else’s sign face. Details of which were found in their Billboard Obstruction Analysis of the billboard viewing areas.
• Judge Lisa M. Vignuolo issued judgment in favor of SignValue’s client Ram-Pank, protecting the easement holder’s billboard viewing area rights on the land and thereby protecting Outfront Media’s visibility obstruction lease rights and ordered WaWa and their developer to remove their on-premise gas price sign.

IT IS thereupon, on this 26^th day of May, 2022, ORDERED AND ADJUDGED, as follows:

1. Peterpank and Ram-Pa’k’s request for injunctive relief is GRANTED;
2. Defendants shall remove the Wawa Sign within thirty (30) days of the date of the posting of this Order on Ecourts;
3. If Defendants seek to erect a sign on the Property, the sign erected may not block a view of the billboard from the vantage point of drivers traveling along Route 9 North adjacent to the property; and
4. Any other claims for relief not expressly addressed in the Court’s Judgement are DENIED;

You can read the final judgement at the following link.

SignValue brokers, analysts and expert witnesses can be reached at info@signvalue.com or (480) 657-8400 for a confidential consultation.

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