City council has approved a giant electronic billboard in Leaside that was opposed by staff and is the subject of a complaint to the integrity commissioner.

Area Councillor Jon Burnside said the 19-10 vote to amend the city’s sign bylaw to allow the billboard at the Leaside Memorial Community Gardens was good news for the community.

Outfront Media had applied for a bylaw variance after agreeing to pay the Leaside arena board an additional $40,000 a year in rent. The arena currently receives $9,500 for a much smaller, static billboard.

In the debate preceding the vote, Councillor Glenn De Baeremaeker, who supported the proposal, said there was nothing nefarious about the arrangement.

Rather than coming “hat in hand asking for money,” the arena, which owes the city $7 million, will collect $500,000 more in rent over the next decade.

“This is something we should be encouraging and supporting and making sure happens all across the city of Toronto.”

Opponents, who said the sign has the potential to distract passing drivers, said council’s decision sets a bad precedent.

“It’s very disappointing that city council prioritized arena revenues over public safety,” Geoff Kettel, co-president of the Leaside Property Owners Association, wrote in email.

Activist Dave Meslin, who filed complaints to the integrity commissioner, said council’s decision ignores city staff who found that the proposed sign is “unsuitable,” and in “significant conflict” with the city’s bylaw. The planning and growth committee recommended approval.

“I think it shows how influential lobbyists have become at city hall,” Meslin said Friday.

The decision amounts to a gift to the outdoor advertising lobby which has been trying to find “creative ways to get applications through council, exchanging financial benefits for special treatment at city hall,” he said.

“Now that this one has worked we’ll definitely see them trying this in every skating arena, and other public buildings across the city.”

Outfront Media has called the allegation of special treatment “profoundly inaccurate.”

“There is no issue with integrity here. What there is, is a very effective activist who’s made this a personal mission,” Stephen McGregor, Outfront’s vice-president of real estate, said earlier this week of Meslin.

McGregor also said there is no correlation between digital signs and driver distraction, and that a plan to shut the sign off at night will address the issue of light pollution.

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Council rejected a motion by Councillor Janet Davis to defer the decision until staff report back on policies around community benefits and donations that apply to applicants seeking sign bylaw approval.

“This sign is egregious in terms of its violations. It is a complete corruption of our sign bylaw,” Davis told council. “It is 10 times what’s allowed, in its size, it is seven times the permitted height.”