Take a look at this 2005 application for a special exception to build a cell tower on the Julius West Middle School playground. The special exception application was filed by an employee of T-Mobile.
Julius West Middle School land is owned by the Montgomery County Board of Education.
The Board of Education is the legal owner of the land and is the party that would file for a special exception. Note the T-Mobile employee certifies that she has the authority to make this application. What authority would that be?
Where was the Board of Education vote to approve this construction? There wasn't one!
Under what authority can private companies file for special exceptions to build on public school land in Montgomery County?
Why did the City of Rockville spend any time processing this application when it wasn't signed by the property owner?
Ultimately, this application was withdrawn and the cell tower was never constructed, but what is to keep this from happening again? Can anyone file for a special exception to build on public school land in Montgomery County?
The City of Rockville is pretty inept when it comes to this kind of thing... and they are VERY developer friendly.
ReplyDelete"Something is rotten in the city of Rockville."
ReplyDeleteI think I'll file an exception request to put a pool in my neighbor's backyard - it's flatter than mine. He should be good with that, right?
ReplyDeleteThat's exactly the point. The land owner, the Board of Education, has not been consenting to the construction of cell towers on public school land. We know our BOE has never taken a public vote to build a cell tower, now we know they don't even sign to authorize the construction.
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