Board shoots down electronic billboard in Brighton backed by the mayor

The Board of Appeal narrowly voted today to reject a 14-by-48-foot electronic billboard towering above the Massachusetts Turnpike after residents said they wanted fewer billboards, not more, especially not the sort that one resident said would be "glaring through my back windows."

The proposal for the computer-controlled billboard mounted atop a 60-foot-tall pole at 88-94 Lincoln St. was supported by Mayor Walsh, although a liaison did not say why, and the Suffolk County Sheriff's Department, which said the Amber Alerts and other messages it would flash would prove an aid to public safety.

Both the Allston Civic Association and the Brighton-Allston Improvement Association opposed the proposal.

ACA President Paul Berkeley said residents have been trying since the turnpike was built through the neighborhood decades ago to get property owners to take down billboards. "I feel like we unfortunately targeted for more billboards because of our location," he said. And atop a 60-foot pole, this one in particular, "you don't need to live next door to see it."

The BPDA also opposed the proposal, as did city councilors Mark Ciommo (Allston/Brighton) and Annissa Essaibi-George (at large).

The zoning board voted 4-3 to reject the proposal.