[B]URLINGTON — The billboards surrounding downtown’s CityPlace development featuring a smiling Don Sinex and people “living, working, shopping, learning and eating” there are no more.
The billboards were removed at the city’s request, Will Voegele, the senior vice president for development of Brookfield Properties, said via email.
“We were asked by the City to remove them and our partnership agreed to do so,” Voegele said.
The wood panels the billboards had been attached to remain at the site, some of which are painted blue.
Jeff Glassberg, a consultant managing the city’s role in the development, said the city hasn’t taken a position on whether the billboards were legal under the Vermont law banning billboards.
The legality of the billboards is part of a pending lawsuit against the project filed by a group of residents represented by lawyer John Franco.
The city wanted to avoid an unnecessary headache over such a small matter, Glassberg said.
“This was a request from the city to the developer to avoid unnecessary conflict on a matter of low consequence to the project,” Glassberg said.
Construction on the site of the $220 million development project has been stalled since August, caused by a variety of factors including delays in securing financing.
Glassberg said the billboards would be painted to be consistent in terms of color, and that the city requires barriers around construction sites to prevent drivers from being distracted.
“Whether that could become an art project in the future or something else is to be determined,” he said.
