"SLUP" Process is a Victory for Get the Cell Out - ATL

SLUP Process Discussed for Cell Towers During Northlake Meeting... Our comments on the DeKalb School Watch blog, under the subject of the Northlake Alliance Meeting:

FYI, what Commissioner Stan Watson (who is up for re-election in 2014) is saying at this meeting may not sound like a big deal if you are not personally affected by the cell towers at schools decision from 2011, however it is actually a very HUGE victory for us at Get the Cell Out - ATL if what he is stating is true.  He mentions the fact that they (the commissioners) are treating the cell tower issues as a "SLUP" (Special Land Use Permit) and that right now the decision is being held up in "Legal."  

Jim McMahan, District 4 School Board Member, discusses
graduation rates at the Northlake Alliance meeting.

Not sure how many on this board know what has happened recently, but just before Atkinson left last Dec. and Walker was removed in early 2013, they both signed the last cell tower contract which was the only one that had been left without a signature on it - for Lakeside High School.  But, upon reading it, we learned that it was slightly different than the others in that it basically says that it is the master contract (as Lakeside was the school to initiate the request) and that it acts as a trigger to all the other contracts.  So. all 9 school contracts that we previously thought had expired are actually now active for the first time.  So, all 9 schools are looking at possible cell towers once again.  But, we still do not know the actual start date for any of these contracts as the T-mobile signature is not included on the final Lakeside copy that they sent to us from an Open Records Request.   So, we do not know who the final signature will be.  T-mobile has reportedly sold off its tower assets, so we do not know who holds the contract for all the schools or if there is even a valid contract for any of them.  It's being held in "Legal" with the county but may get approved sometime over the Summer.

County Commissioner Stan Watson updated the audience
at the Northlake Alliance meeting about cell towers on
school grounds.  He is up for re-election in 2014.

If you are at all concerned about Walker / Atkinson and this strange deal that took place just as they both exited the system and just as Womack was out of office as well (Womack being the board member who brought the subject to the school board for consideration in the first place), please email or call your county commissioner to make sure they know that the school communities do not support this illegal use of our school grounds.  We pay taxes to maintain active school grounds for the education of children, not to allow a big corporation to get away without paying their fair share of property taxes and latching on to our electricity for their eyesores that will cause private property owners to lose land value.  The towers will also put neighborhood schools in jeopardy of closing if parents are concerned about possible health effects and choose to use the school choice program which could cause further pressure on Dunwoody and the other schools in the far north as they were the only ones to not be affected by cell towers at all.  

Here is a link to find the contact details for the county commissioners.  http://web.co.dekalb.ga.us/boc/contact.html

They have previously all penned a letter to the CEO to state that they would not approve the cell towers as they were in violation of county ordinances for safe tower siting, so you will have a supportive ear.  The feedback from the community will be important to show that there is still no educational need to have these towers at the schools physically and that the taxpayers do not want the land intended for children to be subleased out for commercial profit.  

The SLUP process is a victory because it is the standard process by which all towers would have to go through AND it includes the posting of signs at the location by which the public will be duly notified of a hearing date if they wish to protest the construction.  It gives a voice back to the people to decide what they want in their own neighborhood!   Yeah!!  Very happy to hear that this process is finally taking a legitimate path.  

The outcome is yet to be determined, obviously, but this is still a victory under the circumstances.  If Atkinson were still in charge, they would have started to build in May and the towers would be up right now without any notification to the land owners, parents or others who would be adversely affected. 

Public Participation

From the DeKalb County website regarding public participation:

The public has the opportunity to attend Board of Commissioners regular meetings. Regular meetings are held on the second and fourth Tuesday of every month. Public hearings, where members of the public are invited to speak directly to the Board, are held during the regular Board of Commissioners meetings. Members of the public can also attend meetings of the five standing committees within the commission.

Press releases and current events are posted on DeKalb County's website DeKalb News. Also, all regular Board meetings, held on every second and fourth Tuesday of the month, are broadcast live on Channel 23. The meetings are re-broadcast on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday at 7:00 pm, Wednesday at 9:00 am, and Saturday and Sunday at 10:00 am.

For June, these meetings would be June 11 and 25th, FYI.  (Tuesdays)

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