Opinion: County needs smart limits on rights of way as wireless industry hopes for bonanza

Our opposition to Montgomery County’s latest telecommunications towers zoning text amendment (ZTA 19-07) is all about the future.

We are fighting for the rights of residents to have meaningful voice about future use of our shared public rights of way, and specifically want to be sure wireless corporations respect the character and safety of all residential neighborhoods.

Rights of way are inside and surround all residential neighborhoods, including the front sidewalks of apartment buildings and condos.

Public rights of way are woven into the fabric of neighborhoods and are a veritable gold mine of existing infrastructure (utility poles, streetlights, lampposts, intersection signals, etc.). Wireless companies want to install antennas, radios and equipment cabinets in various configurations on those poles...

...The ZTA for Montgomery County contains almost no requirements for concealments while allowing almost every selected pole to be made taller. Residents will be totally cut out of the process...

https://bethesdamagazine.com/bethesda-beat/opinion/opinion-county-needs-smart-limits-on-rights-of-way-as-wireless-industry-hopes-for-bonanza/

CELL TOWERS 30 FEET FROM OUR HOMES? Give the Community a Voice: Support A Stakeholder Advisory Group EMAIL THE COUNTY COUNCIL TODAY!

 URGENT: The Montgomery County Council may soon vote on ZTA 19-07 -- zoning changes that will allow "small" cell towers just 30 feet from homes, with no notice to residents and no public hearings.

TAKE ACTION NOW: Tell the Council you support a multi-stakeholder advisory group – made up of residents, municipal governments, industry, and homeowner/tenant associations and non-profit groups. This group will sort through the issues and present the Council with recommendations on how to address cell towers in residential areas.

The ZTA must be halted until the community advisory group has delivered recommendations...

https://actionnetwork.org/letters/stop-zta-19-07/?fbclid=IwAR2w5nLHkqX31BbUQEnRrTZf29PJWV-bVOk_RquczCqjIyQ3x4GZaELHz_w

Project WTF: STOP THIS SHIFT — Eliminate Wireless Telecommunication Facility Subsidies and Reject ZTA 19-07 - Make WTF industry fees fully self-supporting, without diminishing protections for Resident Taxpayers.

Project WTF: STOP THIS SHIFT — Eliminate Wireless Telecommunication Facility Subsidies and Reject ZTA 19-07

Make WTF industry fees fully self-supporting, without diminishing protections for Resident Taxpayers.

Say NO to ZTA 19-07, which portends adverse impacts on Resident Taxpayers.

Please wait for document to load within the PDF viewer.

Click link to view slides:

 https://mc4t.org/project-wtf-stop-this-shift-reject-zta-19-07/

Watch Now! Project WTF: Antenna & Cell Pole Litigation Underway - Montgomery County remains an active co-petitioner appealing FCC's 6409 Clarification Order (League of California Cities et.al., v. FCC - 9th Circuit USCA ) and while a lawsuit appealing radio frequency regulations (EHT et. al., v. FCC – USCA, DC Circuit) is still pending.

Let’s not shoot ourselves in the foot!!

Now is not the time for the County Council to pass “permissive” zoning legislation on behalf of the wireless industry while Montgomery County remains an active co-petitioner appealing FCC's 6409 Clarification Order (League of California Cities et.al., v. FCC - 9th Circuit USCA ) and while a lawsuit appealing radio frequency regulations (EHT et. al., v. FCC – USCA, DC Circuit) is still pending.

Both cases have potential to profoundly impact the regulations for siting and expansion of cell towers and allow greater resident protections.

Why are some members of the Council in such a hurry to help the wireless industry when important Court decisions are expected soon?

Please listen to this presentation, which includes audio and video excerpts of County leaders in 2020 urging caution to not hastily rush forward on ZTA 19-07 when previous litigation was pending.

ZTA 19-07 was re-introduced in February 2021― and other litigation is pending NOW, too!

The presentation also includes brief video and audio clips from the oral arguments before the Ninth Federal Circuit Court and the D.C. Federal District Court, to help residents understand the importance of this active litigation.

Process matters.

We must allow the Courts to issue decisions on these appeals before passing misguided zoning changes that prematurely cede resident protections to wireless corporations!

Write and call your Council members today.

Tell them to stop ZTA 19-07!

The following links are referenced in the presentation:

• As the County telecom attorneys BB&K have explained, through this 2nd Order on RF Standards, the FCC makes no changes to RF emissions limits it established principally in the 1990s.
• Press coverage reported: Two Obama-appointed judges suggested FCC review inadequate
  And legal analysts expect that the Court will likely vacate and remand the 2nd Order on RF Standards.
• BB&K advised that, as adopted, [the 6406 Clarification Order] has the potential to undermine communities’ enforcement of aesthetic standards, including concealment, applicable to wireless facilities, including small cells in the public rights-of-way.

Contact Montgomery County Leaders
e-mail * phone * tweet

Council President Tom Hucker
Tom@TomHucker.com
240-777-7960
@CmHucker

Councilmember Andrew Friedson
Andrew.Friedson@montgomerycountymd.gov
240-777-7828
@Andrew_Friedson

Councilmember Evan Glass
Evan.Glass@montgomerycountymd.gov
240-777-7966
@EvanMGlass

Councilmember Will Jawando
Will.Jawando@montgomerycountymd.gov
240-777-7811
@willjawando

Councilmember Sidney Katz
Sidney.Katz@montgomerycountymd.gov
240-777-7906
@MC_Council_Katz

Councilmember Nancy Navarro
Nancy.Navarro@montgomerycountymd.gov
240-777-7968
@nancy_navarro

Council Vice President Gabe Albornoz (ZTA 19-07 co-sponsor)
Gabriel.Albornoz@montgomerycountymd.gov
240-777-7959
@albornoz_gabe

Councilmember Craig Rice (ZTA 19-07 co-sponsor)
Craig.Rice@montgomerycountymd.gov
240-777-7955
@RicePolitics

Councilmember Hans Riemer (ZTA 19-07 sponsor)
Hans.Riemer@montgomerycountymd.gov
240-777-7964

County.Council@montgomerycountymd.gov
240-777-7900
@MoCoCouncilMD

Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich
marc.elrich@montgomerycountymd.gov
240-777-2500
@MontCoExec

Verizon permit delayed over 'alarming' radio frequency predictions in Takoma Park

Superintendent Jack Smith Wants 750 Gallons of Propane in Tanks Next to Bleachers at Watkins Mill HS. What Could Go Wrong?

Nothing could go wrong with having 750 gallons of propane in tanks next to the bleachers at Watkins Mill High School.  

Unless there was a leak in one of the tanks.  But, that never happens.  

Except when it does.

Superintendent Jack R. Smith wants propane tanks next to the Watkins Mill High School bleachers to appease cell tower companies.  Public school land is all about providing really cheap land to cell tower companies, correct?  Therefore a plan to give more land to a private, commercial company is a great use of dedicated, taxpayer paid for, public school land, correct?

AT&T has filed an application with the Montgomery County Tower Committee to EXPAND the cell tower site at Watkins Mill High School and to add another propane tank and another cell tower compound next to the bleachers on the football field.  The application is shown below.

The Montgomery County Tower Committee meets TODAY at 2PM to approve this plan.  The public is not allowed to speak or comment on these applications.   But you can see from the link to the Tower Committee that the vendor, AT&T, will be allowed to present an entire power point presentation!  The public will not be able to speak or present so much as a Post-it Note.

The propane tanks have what is known as a spark radius as shown on this image from the AT&T application filed with the Montgomery County Tower Committee.

We assume that is the area around each tank where a spark could ignite the tank in the event of a leak.  Both of the tanks will have a spark radius that extends in to the open space by the bleachers as shown by the red lines on the image above.

Hopefully no one will smoke, vape or light anything up behind the bleachers.

Here is a picture from Google Earth showing the exact location of the new propane tank and the new cell tower compound next to the Watkins Mill High School bleachers. 

Wheaton High School football field from Google Earth

In the event that Watkins Mill High School were to be rebuilt at some time in the future the cell tower compound would then dictate the location of any construction on the site.  As we know from Wheaton High School, when a cell tower and associated compound are on school land they never move.  The Board of Education is happy to simply build around cell towers and their compounds, even if the resulting construction means the cell tower is smack up against the new school building.  

Wheaton High School today from Google Earth

MC2018100517+Application+&a... by on Scribd

MoCo "subsidizes the cost of reviewing applications" for cell towers #PickingUpTab #FlushWithCash #Fortunate

On Thursday the Montgomery County Council's  Planning, Housing and Economic Development Committee will be discussing zoning for 5G cell towers on telephone poles and other existing structures throughout the County. 

5G technology needs a lot of locations.  A lot of locations means a lot of applications and the need for a lot of staff time to review all these applications.  

How do vendors afford the cost of the County review of all these applications?  They do not have to worry because in Montgomery County we are fortunate to be flush with cash and we subsidize the cost of reviewing these applications with taxpayer dollars.  

From page 20 of the Reply Comments of Montgomery County, MD to FCC