A proposal for an electronic billboard in Chinatown is receiving strong pushback from neighborhood residents and city councilors, who are urging the city’s zoning board to reject the project.
The proposed 15-foot by 25-foot digital billboard on the corner of Harrison Avenue and Beach Street “doesn’t add anything to the community” and would negatively impact the residents’ quality of life, the head of the Chinese Progressive Association told the Herald on Monday.
“All sectors of Chinatown are opposed to this,” said Karen Chen, executive director of the Chinese Progressive Association. “It’s in one of the busiest intersections in Chinatown, and it would hurt the health and wellness of residents.”
Residents don’t want the area — with several large residential buildings — to become a blinking metropolis, with bright lights beaming into apartments.
“The billboard could be shining into peoples’ apartments, and that would disturb their sleep and quality of life,” Chen said. “We don’t want it. It just doesn’t add anything to the community.”
The proposal for the electronic billboard is on the agenda for Tuesday’s Zoning Board of Appeals meeting. The applicant is seeking a city zoning change and approval.
Ahead of the meeting, two city councilors wrote a letter to the ZBA about their “strong opposition” to the project. They brought up public safety concerns, including that the billboard could “distract drivers and pose dangers to pedestrians.”
“Moreover, residents have noted that the billboard does not fit the character of Chinatown as a vibrant historic neighborhood,” wrote councilors Ed Flynn and Kenzie Bok.
“The proposal presents no real benefits to the residents of Chinatown,” they added in the letter.
The councilors said the proposal brings up questions about the city’s overall approach to electronic billboards, adding that they “oppose the proliferation of such billboards across our neighborhoods.”
“They cut against the City’s goals to reduce energy consumption,” the councilors wrote. “And they fundamentally undermine the goal of preserving the historic nature of many of our downtown neighborhoods, a crucial aspect of what draws people both to visit and settle in Boston.”
Flynn and Bok also noted that the ZBA has deferred the project three times.
The project applicant is CDC Realty Corp and Media Vision. Attorney Richard Lynds on Monday said he doesn’t expect the project to move forward on Tuesday, and referred further comment to his client.
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December 08, 2020 at 08:25AM
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Boston Chinatown residents push back against electronic billboard proposal - Boston Herald
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