Palmer Files Injunction Over Digital Billboard

The fate of the controversial digital billboard on Route 22 in Palmer Township is now in the court's hands.

Palmer Township Solicitor Charles Bruno filed an injunction Friday morning in Northampton County Court for the billboard developer to comply with several township code violations.

Supervisors Chairman Dave Colver said that a hearing for the injunction against developer Abraham Atiyeh is sometime next week but he did not know the date and time.

The Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a motion Monday night to go forward with the injunction.

Atiyeh was given 24 hours to get into code compliance before the township went to court. But when that deadline came and went, Colver said that Bruno went ahead and started preparing the paperwork on Wednesday.

"The bottom line is there are five issues the developer needed to take care of," Colver said.

Of those, Colver said progress has been made this week.

He said that the developer got his PennDOT permit and also passed inspections for the structure and electrical work.

Still remaining is an illumination test, permanent power and a certificate of occupancy, Colver said.

He stated that the developer has lined up a lighting test with the township for sometime next week and has turned in a request to Met-Ed for permanent power.

Hay Terrace residents—who say the billboard is ruining their quality of life—have complained to the supervisors, showing up in force at several meetings over the past month to protest the billboard's brightness and blight.