<strong>By Dan Murphy </strong>
<p>At its April 7 virtual monthly hearing, the city’s Zoning Board of Appeal ultimately denied a controversial proposal to install removable advertising decals within the pedestrian skybridge that connects Copley Place and the Prudential Mall.
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<p>The translucent, adhesive decals, spanning 60-feet wide by 8-feet high, would have adorned only six panes of glass in the center portion on both sides of the three-section bridge, while the upper skylight portions of the bridge would have remained free from decals, according to Jeff Drago, an attorney for the applicant, The Simon Property Group.
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<p>Drago noted ads are already visible on one side inside the bridge, but they’re only visible to people walking through the structure, and that the proposed decals would have adorned both sides in the same location.
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<p>The translucent decals would have required no additional mechanicals, lighting, or illumination, said Drago, and therefore were expected to have no visual impact on drivers at night per a glare study.
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<p>“The idea is to continue to bring foot traffic to within the business community in this area,” said Drago, noting that the Back Bay was one of the Boston neighborhoods hardest hit economically by pandemic.
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<p>The applicant, added Drago, offered as part of mitigation pro bono use of two electronic kiosks within the mall for two weeks a month to nonprofit organizations within the area.
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<p>Conrad Armstong, vice chair of the Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay Licensing, as well as chair of NABB’s Building Use Committee, told this reporter in a phone call following the hearing that the offer of pro bono advertising (which came after the applicant’s initial proposal) wasn’t enough to dissuade NABB from opposing the proposal.
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<p>“We feel this is a very complicated intersection, add these large ads could be a detriment to the public safety of pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorists,” added Armstrong.
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<p>Three other pedestrian skywalks are located throughout the non-historic Back Bay, said Armstrong, and if this proposal had been granted, he believes the landlords of those other pedestrian bridges in the neighborhood would have undoubtedly wanted to follow suit.
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<p>“And they all will be plastered with advertising,” added Armstrong.
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<p>Armstrong also noted the applicant had presented images at the hearing of a similar concept comprising large advertising panels in an area of New York City that looked much like Times Square.
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<p>“Nobody wants the Back Bay to look like Times Square,” said Armstrong.
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<p>Likewise, District 2 City Councilor Ed Flynn told this reporter in a statement following the hearing: “Although the City of Boston has not weighed in on behalf of residents at City boards over the last several years, including at the ZBA and Licensing Board, I have always taken the community process and feedback of my neighbors and local civic groups seriously. While the City of Boston injected more chaos on our streets and sidewalks by encouraging third-party moped food delivery, Back Bay residents and the Neighborhood Association of Back Bay were clear that the last thing we need is the potential for more distracted driving and additional pedestrian safety issues.”
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<p>Conor Newman, of the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Services, went on record during public testimony at the April 7 virtual hearing to express opposition to the proposal as well.
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<p>In contrast, the Back Bay Association, which represents the interests of neighborhood businesses, supported the proposal.
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<p>BBA President Meg Mainzer-Cohen noted how advertising already proliferates MBTA buses and stations during her public testimony at the April 7 virtual hearing.
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<p>Mainzer-Cohen added that she believes allowing the proposed adverting in the skywalk would have come as a benefit to not only the advertising businesses themselves but also for pedestrians by apprising them of these businesses, including any participating Copley Place tenants.</p>