Subcommittee Tackles Billboard Ordinances

By Sue Ellen Woodcock

With over 80 billboards in Revere, and a current billboard moratorium, the city council has set up a subcommittee to review the city ordinances for billboards.

The idea came about after conversations between the Revere Beautification Committee (RBC), the late council president Robert Haas Jr. and the city council members.

During Monday night’s meeting City Planner Frank Stringi told the council that billboards are allowed by special permit granted by the City Council and they are are allowed in several of the city’s zoning districts. Some of the districts abut residential properties.

“We want to take a closer look and tighten up the ordinances,” Stringi said, adding the city has the most billboards of any city in the state. There have been no new billboards erected in the last year because of the moratorium.

“I’d like to see implementation sooner rather than later,” said Council Vice President Patrick Keefe.

Ward 3 Councillor Arthur Guinasso said he has been campaigning on the corner of Revere Street and Broadway and he is overcome by the deplorable billboard looming above. “And we’re trying to beautify Broadway,” Guinasso said, adding that the TED district would be an appropriate place for billboards. “The zoning has to be addressed first.”

Ron Champoux, of the RBC, said he has been working for seven years to clean up the billboards. The current moratorium on billboards expires on March 5, 2018 and the committee would like to see the work completed by then. The committee will include the city solicitor, Champoux, Carol Haney of the RBC,  councillors and anyone else interested.

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