The Milton Times published a letter from the Cedar Grove Civic Association that pretty much sums up how we feel about this billboard proposal.  It can be found in today's edition of Letters to the Editor.  Thank you, Milton Times.

Please continue to sign and share, and more importantly leave a comment or write to the Selectboard.  They need to hear from you. 

Here is Steve Bickerton's letter.  Thank you, Steve. Well done.

Mr. Michael Dennehy
Town Administrator
Milton Town Offices
525 Canton Avenue
Milton, MA 02186

Milton Select Board
Ms. Kathleen Conlon, Chair
Milton Town Offices
525 Canton Avenue
Milton, MA 02186

Delivered via electronic mail

December 2, 2021

Dear Town Administrator Dennehy, Chair Conlon, and Members of the Milton Select Board,
     I’m writing on behalf of your neighbors on the other side of the Neponset River, in the Cedar Grove section of Dorchester, in regards to the electronic billboard proposal at 2 Granite Avenue
that was presented to you at a recent select board meeting.
The Cedar Grove Civic Association is an 83 year old community organization formed and maintained by concerned citizens of our neighborhood to foster civic pride and involvement, and
to promote and maintain the quality of life that we enjoy. We want to let you know that on this side of the river, we are adamantly opposed to both the addition of any new electronic billboards, or the conversion of any existing static billboard to electronic. For the last several years, we have
been actively opposing several Dorchester property owners who have sought to convert their existing billboards to electronic technology, all of which are along the Southeast Expressway, and therefore, are also along our riverfront and harborfront. For the last 50 years, our organization has stood with all other Dorchester neighborhood organizations which border the Southeast Expressway in opposition to the proliferation of
billboards both in our community, and along the expressway, which in the era of urban decay and poor planning decades ago, cut our community off from our waterfront. Billboards remain eyesores, and a reminder of the disregard that was shown for Dorchester at that time, decades
ago, before zoning code existed. Billboards offer almost nothing of benefit. They do not promote economic development of our neighborhoods, they don’t contribute to an aesthetic, and they
don’t create jobs. Electronic billboard are eyesores. They are giant 50 foot TV screens hovering over our communities. This proposed billboard would be visible from the Neponset Bike Trail, Pope John Paul Park, and the Neponset River Estuary. The lawyer representing the Flatley
Company, the property owner of 2 Granite Avenue and proponent of the billboard, considers the fact that this billboard may not be visible from any homes in Milton as a benefit, however he neglected to mention that it will be visible from many homes and parks in our community. Not
only would it be in violation of State Law, but it would be in complete disharmony with everything that activists, community groups, and environmental advocates have been working towards for decades. Today, our waterfront is home to no less than 6 waterfront parks, and the bike trail that, when complete, will fully connect Mattapan Square, through parts of Milton and Dorchester, to Castle Island in South Boston. In 1995, the Commonwealth designated the Neponset River Estuary,
which surrounds 2 Granite Ave, as an Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC), and recently, the Lower Neponset River, from Hyde Park to the Baker Chocolate Factory, finally made the Federal Superfund list, which will allocate millions of federal dollars for chemical
cleanup, finally removing the “forever chemicals” that were dumped into the river by some of those long forgotten factories.
The most relevant statute this proposed sign would violate is 700 Mass. Reg. 3.07 which states in Paragraph 6: “No permit shall be granted for a sign that is within 300 feet of a public park, playground, cemetery, forest, reservation and/or any other scenic or recreational area in excess of
30,000 square feet, regardless of ownership, which is available for public use, or reserved for the public, if any part of the sign or billboard structure is within view from any accessible point of the park.” The proposed electronic billboard would directly abut, and be visible from property owned by the Mass. Department of Conservation & Recreation. This property is known as “Harbor Park: Dorchester Bay/Neponset River Waterfront, and is Shoreland Open Space. The violation of the
regulation is clear. The second violation, Paragraph 4 of 700 Mass Reg. 3.07, speaks to “harmony and suitability for the surrounding area”. Certainly a towering 50’ wide electronic screen is in disharmony with the
Neponset River Estuary ACEC and the nearby parkland. This is an area where this past summer, we had two nesting pairs of American Bald Eagles. Thirty years ago it was a landfill and a junkyard. What incredible progress! Let’s keep it moving in the right direction and respect the
laws and regulations which were written to protect our public lands, parks, and open space. There are no less than 12 static billboards directly bordering the Southeast Expressway through Dorchester, from Columbia/Savin Hill to the border of Milton. This does not include those that don’t directly border the highway, but are still visible from it. The proponents of these conversions will undoubtedly use this new billboard as precedent if allowed. We already know that the new owners of the former Boston Globe site, the Neponset Car Wash site, Boston Bowl,
and the Signs By J site, all in Dorchester, are interested in pursuing digital billboard conversions. Allowing this billboard will undoubtedly open the floodgates. We understand that there may be a small financial benefit to the Town of Milton, but that benefit cannot possibly be worth the permanent harm that would be done by this billboard. As your
neighbors, we ask that you consider the law, consider your neighbors, and reject this proposal.

Sincerely,

Steve Bickerton, Jr.
President
Cedar Grove Civic Association

CC: Rep. Daniel Hunt
Rep. Brandy Fluker-Oakley
Rep. Bill Driscoll
Sen. Nick Collins
Sen. Walter Timilty
Secretary Kathleen Theoharides
Ian Cooke, Neponset River Watershed Association
Jessica Mink, Neponset River Greenway Council
The Milton Times
The Patriot Ledger
The Dorchester Reporter