Billboards Will Be Outlawed in City

In an apparent effort to prevent the transformation of Central Square into Times Square, advertisement billboards will be outlawed in Cambridge starting Saturday.

A city ordinance passed in 1991 takes effect April 10, and City Manager Robert W. Healy will begin enforcing the ban on the city's 52 billboards.

But residents should not expect the billboards--including one atop the Wursthaus in Harvard Square--to disappear anytime soon. Ackerley Outdoor Advertising, which owns 47 of the 52 billboards, is preparing a legal challenge to the ordinance.

"They're trying to suffocate First Amendment speech, my right to make a statement on structures we own," said Louis R. Nickinello, president of Ackerley Outdoor Advertising, based in Stoneham. "They're strictly trying to discriminate against us."

But the City Council, which passed the 1991 law, disagreed. Calling advertisements urban nuisances and an eyesore, the council gave Ackerley and the Revere-based Rite Media Inc., which owns the other five billboards, four years to remove them.

Of Ackerley's billboards, 36 are 12 by 25 feet and 11 are 14 by 48 feet. Rite Media's billboards are all 14 by 48 feet in size.

At Monday's City Council meeting, several Cantabrigians voiced support for a motion by Councillor Katherine Triantafillou to enforce the law immediately.

"We're on the third floor of a triple-decker and we can't see the sky for much of the year," John Nachazel told the council. "Nobody is in favor of the billboards. I hope that you will enforce the ordinance that you in your wisdom have passed."

Other residents contend the bill- boards are not only esthetically displeasingbut damaging to the infrastructure of buildings.

Architect W. Easley Hamner said the HarvardSquare billboard has damaged the building below itthrough its structural supports. "It's almostliterally torn those buildings apart beneath it,"Hamner said.

Since the passage of the 1991 ordinanceAckerley has stopped using the billboards forcommercial ads, instead donating the space forpublic service announcements or using the boardsfor non-commercial speech. Four years ago, itstarted a "quote campaign," with aphorisms byluminaries such as Albert Einstein and the Rev.Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

"Kindness is the golden chain by which asociety is bound together" reads one ad, quotingEinstein.

But some residents interpret the move as acynical public-relations tactic designed to stifleopposition to the boards.

"They block out what should be a prime focalpoint of our square," said Lansing Fair, an InmanSquare resident. "[The quotes] are cynicalproverbs designed to be read in a vacuum of publicsupport."

Nickinello, however, said the billboards werein fact serving a public good.

"I decided to do some inspirational andpositive quotes and bring back some statementsmade by famous people and remind people that thereare some good things in this world," he said.

"I do that under the rights I have under theFirst Amendment. That can't be suffocated by aCambridge ordinance or any other ordinance," headded.

City officials said the billboards will almostcertainly stay up beyond Saturday.

"Ackerley is such a large company with a lot ofmoney and political influence," resident Thi Huynhtold the council Monday. "They're planning tolitigate until everyone drops out."

Ackerley Outdoor Advertising is a division ofthe Seattle-based Ackerley Communications Inc.,which owns the Seattle Supersonics basketballteam.

The company's last legal challenge wasprotracted.

In 1988 and 1989, the city attempted to have 34billboards removed, charging that they were inviolation of the rules of the state OutdoorAdvertising Board (OAB) by being less than 300feet away from a public park and by being "out ofharmony" with their respective neighborhoods.

Appointed by the governor, the OAB regulatespublic signs and billboards.

A Suffolk County Superior Court Judge ruledthat 17 of the billboards were in violation, butlet 17 remain. Both Ackerley and the cityappealed, and all 34 are still in legal limbo.

The ban may be equally ineffective at removingthe remaining 18 billboards. Earlier, Ackerleysuccessfully sued the town of Somerville tofederal court, forcing the town to pay $130,000 indamages, including all of the company's legalfees, Nickinello said.

Healy said the city will treat the billboardviolations, which officially start Monday--thefirst business day after Saturday--like any otherzoning violations.

He said the Cambridge will attempt normaladministrative action before resorting tolitigation.

The state commissioner of inspectionalservices, Robert Bersani, will first send"administrative enforcement letters" to Ackerleyand Rite Media, the city manager said.

But Healy conceded that "the billboards willnot disappear on June 10 or 11 or 12."

"We know that this will be the subject of asignificant legal challenge," he acknowledged.

Ackerley is expected to appeal to the zoningboard for a permit to let the billboards stay andallow the violation to continue.

After a "reasonable period of time," the citywill file a lawsuit to get the billboards down ifAckerley and Rite Media refuse, Deputy CitySolicitor Donald A. Drisdell said.

Several councillors have expresseddissatisfaction with the OAB's enforcement. "Thegovernor has packed the OAB in such a way thatthey didn't do their job in applying theregulations," said Councillor Francis H. Duehay'55. Duehay was the sponsor of the original 1991legislation banning billboards.

"Many of the billboards that are now up areillegally up," Duehay added. "This company andthis industry has been told to leave the city andthey need to know we mean business."

Along with the zoning challenge, Ackerley isalso planning a constitutional suit.

"If they try to enforce the ordinance therewill be litigation," Nickinello promised.

"It's only a handful of political people whoare trying to control the minds of a majority ofpeople," said Nickinello, who said mostCantabrigians don't mind the signs.

Nickinello said billboards are oftenunattractive but should be accepted as a part ofthe urban landscape.

"We're esthetically not pleasing but we're nodiferent from a gas station or whatever,"Nickinello said. "We're a communciation medium. Wehave a right to be heard and we have a right to apresence."

Non-commercial speech, such as public serviceannouncements and Ackerley's "quote campaign," areprotected by the Constitution, he added.

Other business interests appear to agree."There is a real fine line between freedom ofspeech and regulation of what is considered freespeech," said Helena G. Rees, public affairsdirector of the Cambridge Chamber of Commerce.

City officials disagree.

"We feel that this is a visual blight and isnot appropriate," Duehay said. "If you carry thatargument to a logical extreme, you would havesigns everywhere--in residential areas, commercialareas, blinking neon signs everywhere.

Architect W. Easley Hamner said the HarvardSquare billboard has damaged the building below itthrough its structural supports. "It's almostliterally torn those buildings apart beneath it,"Hamner said.

Since the passage of the 1991 ordinanceAckerley has stopped using the billboards forcommercial ads, instead donating the space forpublic service announcements or using the boardsfor non-commercial speech. Four years ago, itstarted a "quote campaign," with aphorisms byluminaries such as Albert Einstein and the Rev.Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

"Kindness is the golden chain by which asociety is bound together" reads one ad, quotingEinstein.

But some residents interpret the move as acynical public-relations tactic designed to stifleopposition to the boards.

"They block out what should be a prime focalpoint of our square," said Lansing Fair, an InmanSquare resident. "[The quotes] are cynicalproverbs designed to be read in a vacuum of publicsupport."

Nickinello, however, said the billboards werein fact serving a public good.

"I decided to do some inspirational andpositive quotes and bring back some statementsmade by famous people and remind people that thereare some good things in this world," he said.

"I do that under the rights I have under theFirst Amendment. That can't be suffocated by aCambridge ordinance or any other ordinance," headded.

City officials said the billboards will almostcertainly stay up beyond Saturday.

"Ackerley is such a large company with a lot ofmoney and political influence," resident Thi Huynhtold the council Monday. "They're planning tolitigate until everyone drops out."

Ackerley Outdoor Advertising is a division ofthe Seattle-based Ackerley Communications Inc.,which owns the Seattle Supersonics basketballteam.

The company's last legal challenge wasprotracted.

In 1988 and 1989, the city attempted to have 34billboards removed, charging that they were inviolation of the rules of the state OutdoorAdvertising Board (OAB) by being less than 300feet away from a public park and by being "out ofharmony" with their respective neighborhoods.

Appointed by the governor, the OAB regulatespublic signs and billboards.

A Suffolk County Superior Court Judge ruledthat 17 of the billboards were in violation, butlet 17 remain. Both Ackerley and the cityappealed, and all 34 are still in legal limbo.

The ban may be equally ineffective at removingthe remaining 18 billboards. Earlier, Ackerleysuccessfully sued the town of Somerville tofederal court, forcing the town to pay $130,000 indamages, including all of the company's legalfees, Nickinello said.

Healy said the city will treat the billboardviolations, which officially start Monday--thefirst business day after Saturday--like any otherzoning violations.

He said the Cambridge will attempt normaladministrative action before resorting tolitigation.

The state commissioner of inspectionalservices, Robert Bersani, will first send"administrative enforcement letters" to Ackerleyand Rite Media, the city manager said.

But Healy conceded that "the billboards willnot disappear on June 10 or 11 or 12."

"We know that this will be the subject of asignificant legal challenge," he acknowledged.

Ackerley is expected to appeal to the zoningboard for a permit to let the billboards stay andallow the violation to continue.

After a "reasonable period of time," the citywill file a lawsuit to get the billboards down ifAckerley and Rite Media refuse, Deputy CitySolicitor Donald A. Drisdell said.

Several councillors have expresseddissatisfaction with the OAB's enforcement. "Thegovernor has packed the OAB in such a way thatthey didn't do their job in applying theregulations," said Councillor Francis H. Duehay'55. Duehay was the sponsor of the original 1991legislation banning billboards.

"Many of the billboards that are now up areillegally up," Duehay added. "This company andthis industry has been told to leave the city andthey need to know we mean business."

Along with the zoning challenge, Ackerley isalso planning a constitutional suit.

"If they try to enforce the ordinance therewill be litigation," Nickinello promised.

"It's only a handful of political people whoare trying to control the minds of a majority ofpeople," said Nickinello, who said mostCantabrigians don't mind the signs.

Nickinello said billboards are oftenunattractive but should be accepted as a part ofthe urban landscape.

"We're esthetically not pleasing but we're nodiferent from a gas station or whatever,"Nickinello said. "We're a communciation medium. Wehave a right to be heard and we have a right to apresence."

Non-commercial speech, such as public serviceannouncements and Ackerley's "quote campaign," areprotected by the Constitution, he added.

Other business interests appear to agree."There is a real fine line between freedom ofspeech and regulation of what is considered freespeech," said Helena G. Rees, public affairsdirector of the Cambridge Chamber of Commerce.

City officials disagree.

"We feel that this is a visual blight and isnot appropriate," Duehay said. "If you carry thatargument to a logical extreme, you would havesigns everywhere--in residential areas, commercialareas, blinking neon signs everywhere.