We were honored to have the opportunity to speak at the Feb. 21 public hearing held by Rep. Karla Drenner regarding cellphone towers on school grounds.
Upon the conclusion of that meeting, another DeKalb resident who was there to state opposition to the cell towers asked us about the DeKalb County zoning codes and whether we had seen the long list of precautions and guidelines already in place.
However, as we began asking questions about this process in an effort to assist the schools wishing to protest, we learned something that we had not expected to hear... the DeKalb County Office of Planning and Sustainability which reports directly to CEO Burrell Ellis was claiming that it actually had zero oversight of the DeKalb County Schools. Read the response we received back in June 2011.
We have summarized our thoughts and the information we have uncovered regarding the issue of permits for telecommunications towers and the zoning laws in Dekalb County. Remember, these are the specifications already on the books regarding the placement of cell phone towers in a reasonable manner to protect the health and best interests of the citizens of our county.
Sen. Jason Carter is working on new legislation to clairfy when and how these rules apply, but first let's acknowledge that our county is actually several steps ahead others when it comes to protecting its citizens from cell towers. Many local municipalities do not realize they have a need for these type of regulations until it is too late. Here in DeKalb, it would seem, we are all ready for the cell companies to come knocking because the laws are in place to establish and maintain our communities. Or are they??
At the bottom of this article, we have copied the applicable zoning laws and included the link in case you want to check out the original for yourself. If T-mobile were required to apply for a Special Land Use Permit, these are the guidelines they would be expected to follow. We would like to think these are the same rules that would apply even if T-mobile were to be allowed a Special Administrative Permit.
Sadly, we fear that the Administrative (or closed door) route is being taken here in an effort to AVOID following the rules. Hopefully, this is the loophole that Sen. Jason Carter is attempting to close for us so that future schools will not face the same legal battles that our current cell tower schools are being forced to consider.
 |
| Richard Marion (above), a representatives from No Tower Briarlake, LLC, along with others from Unhappy Taxpayer and Voter and the Briarcliff Heights Neighborhood Action Group appealed to the DeKalb County Commissioners on Feb. 28, 2012. These citizens argued to the commissioners that a moratorium on cell tower construction is needed. They urged the officials to protect the rights of the citizens and children of our county. They stated a countywide sentiment that we do not want cell towers to be built at 9 public school campuses, especially without due process and notification under our county's own zoning laws and regulations. Click the video at the bottom to view these public comments. |
But, let's just consider the current zoing laws and the towers that are on their way to our schools right now. Clearly, many of the towers planned for school grounds would be in serious violation of these requirements. But, according to the DeKalb County Commissioners we've contacted (and their responses are printed on this website), they believe that the school system deserves a special exemption from this normal application process, but why?
The exemption has been clarified by the Supreme Court of Georgia to apply ONLY when the use of the property is for governmental purposes and NOT when the use is for proprietary purposes (such as a private company like T-mobile seeking to make a commercial profit from the operation of a cell tower). See summary: http://www.lawskills.com/case/ ga/id/274/39/index.html
So, why is Burrell Ellis's office planning to issue "Special Administrative Permits" to T-mobile that will allow them to ignore our county's zoning codes and will not allow public input or comment? We have attempted to contact the CEO, but have not had any luck since that initial email reply we received that stated his office had no control over the school board. Read the text here. We asked him about this subject in a public meeting, but he defered to the commissioners who promised to get back with us. They didn't.
Is this an issue of the school board claiming to be exempt? Then, why doesn't the CEO tell them that the exemption does not apply?
Is it a question of T-mobile claiming to be able to utilize the exemption that is normally offered to the school board for building educational builidings? Then why doesn't the CEO correct that assumption and set the record straight?
If you write or call your own county commissioner, or if you get an answer to any of these questions from CEO Burrell Ellis, please email us and let us know. We would like to print any responses you receive on our website so that we can all stop spinning our wheels and understand this process together. Your identity will not be revealed.
Email your responses to sayno2celltowers@yahoo.com.
We are not accussing anyone of doing anything wrong. But, this is a government that is supposed to be "for the people," right? So, why is it so difficult for "the people" to get an explanation that makes sense?
Dekalb.county.telecommunications
If you have questions, like we do, please direct them to these individuals at the county level:
Send your emails to:
DeKalb County Planning and Sustainability - grants permit
And also send emails to:
Gary Cornell - Interim Director, gacornell@dekalbcountyga.gov
NOTE: THIS IS A NEW INTERIM PLANNING DIRECTOR
If you have already attempted to contact this department, please try again
and ask for Gary Cornell. Perhaps we will have better luck with him than we did
with the former Interim Director, Andrew Baker.
Suite 400, 1300 Commerce Drive
Decatur, GA 30030-3221
Phone: (404) 371-2607
CC: your emails to the following:
Elaine Boyer 404-371-2844 ecboyer@dekalbcountyga.gov
Jeff Rader 404-371-2863 jrader@dekalbcountyga.gov
Larry Johnson 404-371-2425 larryjohnson@dekalbcountyga.gov
Sharon Barnes Sutton 404-371-4907 sbsutton@dekalbcountyga.gov
Lee May 404-371-4745 lmay@dekalbcountyga.gov
Kathie Gannon 404-371-4909 kgannon@dekalbcountyga.gov
Stan Watson 404-371-3681 stanwatson@dekalbcountyga.gov
BCC: your emails to us at: sayno2celltowers@yahoo.com
if you would like us to help keep track
of how many people have asked the same questions
and received the same responses (or no responses).
No comments:
Post a Comment
We want to know what you think. Leave your respectful comments here!