Opinion: Digital megaboard proposed for West Don park corridor

Nothing is out-of-bounds for the outdoor advertising industry.  Not satisfied with all the existing billboards they have at Dundas Square and along the Gardiner Expressway, Toronto’s billboard companies are determined to build more and more digital megaboards – anywhere and everywhere.

In one of the worst cases we’ve seen so far, Outfront Media and CP Rail have teamed up to build a massive digital billboard, directly facing Serena Gundy Park in the West Don park corridor.

Despite being labelled as “static” by city staff, these kinds of billboards flash a new ad every ten seconds, adding up to thousands of flashing commercial ads per day.

The brightness can be seen from over a kilometre away and will affect residents, park-goers and wildlife.  (You can watch our video about how billboards have affected residents in Liberty Village here).

This proposal will be debated and voted upon at tomorrow’s Sign Variance Committee meeting.  You can send them a letter, by clicking on the “Submit your Comments” buttons on the top of the staff report.

We’re glad to see that city staff have recommended against the proposal, but we can be sure that Outfront will send a delegation to the meeting, to try to persuade the Committee to support the proposal.  When citizen’s speak out, it makes a difference.

Thanks for your ongoing support!

yours,
Dave Meslin
Scenic Toronto

Source: ACTION ALERT: Digital Megaboard proposed for West Don park corridor