50-Foot-High Digital Billboard Proposed On Route 202 On Bridgewater, Raritan Border

RARITAN, NJ — Another double-sided digital billboard is being proposed off Route 202.

IAAT Services LLC is proposing to erect a 50-foot-high digital billboard at 1137 Route 202 South in Raritan, which is occupied by Classic Auto Body.

The location is near Charlotte Drive in Bridgewater and Cafe Emilia.

A public hearing on the proposed digital billboard is scheduled for Wednesday, June 24, at 6:30 p.m. before the Raritan Board of Adjustment.

The hearing will be held in person at the Raritan Municipal Building, Borough Hall, 9 West Somerset Street.

According to the public notice, IAAT Services LLC is seeking preliminary and final site plan approval, along with use and bulk variance relief, to construct and operate a double-sided digital multi-message billboard at 1137 Route 202.

The notice states the property is currently developed with an existing auto body shop and that "the operations of which would not be affected."

The proposed billboard would be placed in the northeast corner of the property along Route 202.

The sign faces would each measure about 14 feet high by 48 feet wide, or about 672 square feet per face, according to the notice.

The top of the billboard would be 50 feet above ground level.

The notice states there are no grading or drainage improvements proposed, no construction planned on the existing building, and no other site improvements tied to the billboard installation aside from an electrical connection to power it.

The application seeks a D-1 use variance because billboards are not permitted uses in the OM-3 zone, according to the notice.

It also seeks relief because signs that are not accessory to a principal use on a property are prohibited, and because the proposed billboard would display off-premises advertising and public or service messages.

Additional relief is requested for lot size, frontage and setback issues.

The notice lists a required 200-foot front yard setback for a billboard, where 10 feet is proposed, and a required 150-foot one-sided yard setback, where 5 feet is proposed.

It also lists a required combined side yard setback of 300 feet, where 67.92 feet is proposed.

To see the full application for the proposed billboard, visit raritanboro.org/_Content/pdf/Pl-Bd-App-2026-001-IAAT-Services-LLC.pdf.

In September 2025, IAAT Services LLC previously proposed a 62-foot-high digital billboard on Route 202 near the First Avenue intersection.

The Raritan Planning Board denied the application, which triggered a lawsuit from IAAT Services on Dec. 15, 2025, claiming the Planning Board's denial on Sept. 25 "is arbitrary, capricious, unreasonable, unconstitutional, unsupported by substantial evidence, and must be reversed."

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