At tomorrow morning’s March 25, 2015,
worksession, the Montgomery County Board of Appeals is scheduled to
address a request for the Board to reconsider a Resolution that grants
extra time for T-Mobile to construct a cell tower that would abut Cresthaven Elementary School, on property owned by the West Hillandale
Swim Club. Neighbors and local parents, some who have been fighting the
cell tower since 2007, want Special Exception S-2709 to be allowed to
expire on April 22, 2015.
Opponents
say the Board relied on misrepresentations when it granted T-Mobile an
extension of time. Seeking the extension, on February 4, 2015, T-Mobile
told the Board that no infrastructure, no pole, and no footprint
modifications would be made during the requested time extension, and
that T-Mobile would not need to return to the Board to seek
authorization for changes to the cell tower. But following the Board’s
release of its Resolution, which granted the extension of time, Susan
Present sent a letter to the Board, saying, “…I
am concerned that T-Mobile may seek to enlarge the telecom facility …
and that T-Mobile would try to utilize the time granted through the
Resolution to acquire authorization…” Offering Ms. Present no reassurance, T-Mobile’s reply to the Board states, “Should
T-Mobile and/or the West Hillandale Swim Club seek modification of the
approval or conditions of same, we trust the Board can consider such a
request and make the appropriate decision based on the merits.”
Also on February 4th,
to demonstrate that T-Mobile was the leaseholder and authorized
developer, the swim club president attested to T-Mobile’s ongoing lease
and payments of rent. However, opponent Lynn Grodski has told the Board
of Appeals, “State tax records show
that T-Mobile has never established a separate tax I.D. for the parcel
that it told the Board of Appeals it has continuously been leasing from
the West Hillandale Swim Club…T-Mobile has been advantaged by the County
tax-credit that the nonprofit private swim club has annually received
as a facility that is used exclusively to provide a recreational outlet
to the local community.”
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