Council President Riemer responded that the Council supports cell towers "near" local parks. However this particular cell tower is to be constructed IN a local park on the Blair High School baseball field. The Blair High School fields are owned by Montgomery Parks.
Council President Riemer also seems to have confused the Blair High School cell tower proposal with other proposals. There currently is NO CELL TOWER on the Blair High School baseball field. Park and Planning approved a NEW CELL TOWER for the Blair High School baseball field. Riemer's statement that the Council (without a public vote) supports the co-location of telecommunications antennas is irrelevant to the Blair High School proposal to put a NEW cell tower on the baseball field.
For shame.
ReplyDeleteFor fame?
DeleteThis type of response is what we can look forward to now that Mr. Riemer is president of the county council. He was just elected by his fellow councilmembers (unanimous vote, as usual, I assume), so this is the tenor of the responses from the county for the next year.
DeleteDemocratic Dictatorship Dominates Decisions
DeleteThis is glaring example of how the agencies that are charged with protecting the public routinely turn a blind eye, contort regulatory interpretations, and skirt regulations to the benefit of the wireless industry. It is distressing that the Council is poised to consider a ZTA that would expand authority in many of the same agencies (and others) that have been violating the public trust. That legislation trusts staff to approve by Limited Use (i.e. without public hearings) hundreds, perhaps thousands, of cell towers and other antenna facilities, many in our front yards and neighborhoods. It would expedite approvals and deployments, too.
DeleteThat ZTA still needs work. However, before any legislation would expand the category of cell towers and antennas entitled to administrative (staff) approvals, and before other legislation would expedite the processing of these telecommunications facilities, WE NEED AGENCIES THAT WE CAN TRUST! Officials and staff must first demonstrate that they serve the interests and needs of County residents. They must: fairly adhere to the regulations; provide timely, transparent, and accessible information and processes, with opportunities for public input into their reviews; and stop favoring the wireless industry.
As for Blair Local Park, the Commission staff memorandum, referenced by President Riemer, omitted important details. The so-called “public notice” and “opportunities to express opinions,” were deficient. They violated County Regulation COMCOR 02.58E.01.05(b) and the Commission’s own Administrative Procedures. As a result, the Commission undermined the Tower Committee’s fair and complete review of the TFCG application. Of course, the Tower Committee was complicit in this. True is its M.O., the Tower Committee did not adhere to or enforce the County Regulation.
The Commission also contravened its Administrative Procedure, currently found in Section 7.6(f), which states that Local Parks “shall not be considered for telecommunications facilities sites.” The plain language is firm and clear in this prohibition.
The November 16, 2017 hearing was precipitously held. The Commission had denied our requests for the hearing’s postponement until documents requested through the MPIA process would be furnished. Then, following the hearing, the Commission dragged its feet in furnishing key documents requested (and has yet to furnish some documents).
However, through documents that the Commission recently provided, we have traced the restrictive covenant that governs Blair Local Park. Since 1995, that covenant has prohibited any non-Project Open Space use in/on/over the Blair Local Park property. Obviously, a commercial telecommunications facility is not a permitted use. Per the covenant, any conversions of the land to non-open space use require a specific process, the authorization of 3 specified State signatories, and a modification to the covenant must be filed as a Land Record. This has not been done.
As a result, we are concerned that the installation of the original telecommunications facility, the remaining monopole (a.k.a. stadium light pole designed for telecommunications facility use), and the revenue appropriations from this commercial facility have violated the State Regulations for this Local Park as Project Open Space land. And we are concerned that if the telecommunications facility would be recommissioned and deployed in the same fashion as before, the same violations would transpire.
So, on Friday, December 22, 2017, Rick Meyer and I notified the Commission of our concerns and requested that it retract its approval of the T-Mobile lease or cancel the lease. Also, on Friday, we notified the Department of Permitting Services, asking the Director to not issue or to place holds on any permits for construction related to this telecommunications facility. And, we alerted several County and State oversight, investigative, and enforcement agencies, seeking their assistance. On all correspondence we copied the County Executive, and we copied the County Council, too.
Sue Present
"WE NEED AGENCIES THAT WE CAN TRUST!" Along the same lines, we install locks to keep our neighbors honest.
DeleteRiemer may be going the publicly funded route now, but Riemer has taken lots of money from developers and utilities until recently. If he really wants to convince us that he will never again accept money from special interests (and do their bidding), perhaps he could close down his "Friends of Hans Remier" campaign account that has taken and CAN in the future take money from developers and cell tower builders.
ReplyDeleteRiemer is an at-large council member from Takoma Park (you know, the city that has a private library that county taxpayers are forced to fund). This election cycle there are dozens of people running for at-large seats. Thanks to #termlimits voters finally have a choice.
ReplyDeleteHow many of these new cell towers are going into Takoma Park?
ReplyDeleteAs many as it takes to glow in the dark.
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