Credit: Tom Sofield/LevittownNow.com
The Middletown Township Board of Supervisors has voted to terminate a lease agreement with Premier Media, the company that operated an electronic billboard at the corner of South Flowers Mill Road and East Lincoln Highway.
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The board voted Monday evening to end the lease after a legal challenge and a ruling by the Commonwealth Court.
In late 2023, the court found that the billboard was constructed in the township’s right-of-way and was therefore not permitted under ordinance. The decision came after McCafferty Hyundai Sales, Inc., now part of Fred Beans, and The Kenneth F. Plunto Family Trust contested the Middletown Township Zoning Hearing Board’s initial approval of the sign.
The legal dispute began in 2022 when a Bucks County Court of Common Pleas judge ruled in favor of allowing the billboard on the property. However, this decision was appealed to the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court by the neighboring property owner and the dealership, as LevittownNow.com previously reported.
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In April, the township abruptly removed the billboard.
Township Solicitor James Esposito told the public on Monday that the lease had a contingency that allowed for it ending.
“This billboard was not owned by the township but was on township property,” Supervisor Chair Mike Ksiazek said.
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Premier Media first installed the approximately 300-square-foot, one-sided billboard in early 2021.
The Middletown Township Board of Supervisors approved a 25-year lease agreement with Premier Media for the small tract of municipal land in 2020. The agreement generated $1,000 per month during the billboard’s construction phase, with an annual payment of $19,000 for the first five years. The lease also included a 12.5 percent increase every subsequent five years and an escrow fund for site landscaping.
With the termination of the lease, the township has returned the property to what it looked like before 2021.
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Publisher Tom Sofield contributed to this article.
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