Attachments of antennas and equipment to telephone poles obstructs visibility of children at play, students at bus stops, and smaller stature pedestrians.
Adverse impacts of pending ZTA 22-01 on Montgomery County Vision Zero Strategies (briefing @ Tuesday Montgomery County Council meeting).
Large ground-mounted equipment boxes, double utility poles, and large/tall equipment bases within streetlight poles are destined for our neighborhood streets. What will this mean for your neighborhood sidewalk?
On Thursday, September 15th, T-Mobile submitted application 2022091952 (https://montgomerycountytfcg.s3.amazonaws.com/Applications/MC2022091952.pdf) to the County’s Tower Committee, to expand a site where antennas had previously been attached to a utility pole in a residentially-zoned right-of-way. (This installation meets the current setback standard of 60 feet and did not require the reduced setback provisions in ZTA 22-01.)
ReplyDeleteApplication expansions include:
• Replacement of pole-mounted equipment boxes with 1 equipment cabinet and the addition of 1 power cabinet, with the two cabinets seated side-by-side on a ground-mounted base pad. The two cabinets are each 26” wide, and the elevated base raises them to 5-feet, 5-inches tall.
• Replacement of the two slim mounted antennas with an array of three antennas that extend almost 3 feet from the pole, and make the it look like a mini-monopole.
This T-Mobile application claims that the expansions qualify under federal 6409 (Spectrum Act) rules, which, if correct, means the expansions pre-empt zoning standards that ordinarily apply. Imagine how large, tall cabinets like these would obscure visibility on our neighborhood streets. Imagine, too, the change to neighborhood character of having mini-monopoles where we have standard utility poles. But, if ZTA 22-01 is passed, and antennas are installed on the utility poles in our neighborhoods, then what will stop the wireless providers from claiming the right to expanding those neighborhood antenna sites under federal Spectrum Act rules, too?