Letter to DeKalb County Commissioners

1/29/15

CEO May and County Commissioners,

Thank you on behalf of the many DeKalb residents and parents for listening to the wishes of the taxpayers on the issue of cell towers on school grounds.  Thank you for the time and effort you took to understand the complexities of the issues surrounding T-mobile and its request for zoning exemption in order to place their towers at our schools.   Thank you for following the letter of the law in terms of responding to their challenges and requests so that our zoning code was ultimately held up in federal court, according to the posting by Commissioner Raider that was recently circulated among parents in our area of Central DeKalb.

It is your hard work on the zoning code updates that should be commended and your efforts to work together on this issue that paid off in the long run for the property values and the good sense of what’s right for our children.

We appreciate each of you for your work on this issue!  And, we applaud your transparency on this issue!  Good job!

Kind regards,

XXXX
Get the Cell Out – ATL

NOTE TO GTCO-ATL Followers:  The fact that the originally proposed 12 schools did not end up with cell towers is an amazing accomplishment.  Nine of the 12 were approved by the school board and even an attempt at new legislation would not have helped them get out of their contracts.  However, the county's existing zoning code did not allow for an inappropriate height structure intended for commercial use to be built on publicly funded land intended for education.  Tmobile sued after the county denied the special land use permit and eventually the case in court went in favor of the citizens.  Tmobile withdrew its plans for all the schools on the list. 

HOWEVER, if new cities are approved on this coming Nov. 3 ballot, everything could be, once again, up in the air.  A city zoning board would decide what rules to adopt and which ones to change.  They could make "mixed use" zoning appropriate everywhere and a cell tower could be approved for placement right in your own back yard or at your child's school or daycare.  

While it might seem futile, now is hardly the time to give up your rights or your beliefs about the danger of these towers.  More evidence is coming to the forefront of the scientific community every day about the very real link between RF radiation and cancer.  While the tower companies have a lot of money, and they have friends in high  places, they still need their customer base and if the elected officials lose their seats on the various boards, they will also lose the little support they have there, too.  

So,  please remain informed on this subject and be aware of any rezoning requests made near your home, church or school.  Speaking up is your right and it is free.  Even if we don't win every battle, we are hardly alone.  The issue will become larger  in the years to come as many early adopters of cell phone technology are just now reaching the age where correlations between an illness and the technology can be studied.  Your voice and opinion can become part of an important public record on the subject that could help someone else one day when they learn they have cancer and they want to prove to a judge that the tower companies should have known because people raised these concerns over and over again.  

DeKalb County recently updated its zoning code and approved smaller antennas that can be disguised in the masts of churches or on top of telephone poles in our communities.  While not as obvious or aesthetically unpleasant, they still carry RF and having them closer and closer to us increases the dangers.  The new "smart meters" being placed on homes also emit this type of radiation and you now have an option to "opt out" of this program and even get your old analog meter put back on your home.

If you have any questions, feel free to email us at sayno2celltowers@yahoo.com.  

We continue to fight because you continue to care.  Thank you.