Jay King, owner of a shopping center that includes Carraba's and Wendy's, along Cedar Crest Boulevard and the Hamilton Street bypass, wants to erect an off-premises electronic billboard.

At the April 3, South Whitehall commissioners' meeting, Attorney Timothy Siegfried, representing King, requested an amendment to the zoning ordinance to make the billboard possible in the desired location.

"We would like the ordinance to permit an electronic billboard in a Highway-Commercial District provided it is at shopping center frontage along two principal arterial roads, Siegfried said. "This location is the only one to meet that requirement in South Whitehall, so there won't be a proliferation."

King said suburban real estate owners are being hurt by lower rents in Allentown in areas under redevelopment for the arena project.

"In Allentown there is a 40 to 50 percent rent difference because of the Neighborhood Improvement Zone," King said. "This billboard will help us. We own the billboards we have. We also use them for community activities. We control what goes on the boards."

Commissioners decided to take the matter under advisement to allow time for staff to evaluate it.

In other business, Attorney Blake Marles reported the City of Allentown is nearly ready to reach an agreement on overbilling for water and sewer services provided to suburban municipalities for the past several years.

"We have half-a-million coming back to the board of authority," Marles said. "For five years, it's been sitting in an account with no interest."

Commissioners authorized township Manager Jon Hammer to sign the settlement agreement with Allentown when it is finalized.