Sent via email: 11/22/11
Dear President Nancy Seegar, Georgia Association of Zoning Administrators:
I am writing to you today on behalf of the citizens in DeKalb County, GA, with the hope that you or your association might be able to help us understand some zoning issues that are currently the center of much controversy and has many residents, homeowners, taxpayers and voters upset with the way we believe our rights are being violated.
The subject is the placement of telecommunications towers,
specifically T-mobile cell towers, on public school property.
We understand that the DeKalb County School Board voted in July to lease property at 9 schools throughout the county to T-mobile, a commercial entity solely interested in tax breaks and profit with no contribution to the educational endeavors of our school system. While we are upset about the short notice and lack of notification provided by the school board, we do understand that the time to voice our objections to them has passed as the leases have been reportedly signed. That is what brings us to you for help in understand the process.
We have started a non-profit group to assist the concerned citizens who live near these 9 schools by provding a central location for news and information that might help them understand what has taken place and what rights they may have if they wish to oppose the placement of any of these towers before construction begins. According to statements by the school board, that construction may begin anytime and will likely be complete by March 2012, so we do not have a lot of time.
Once the land lease was approved, we expected that T-mobile would then need to get a Special Land Use Permit for each site. We expected these permits to require public hearings and notification since the permits require the re-zoning of residential areas to accomodate the large, industrial structures which, until now, we have not seen located anywhere except commercial properties or setback from major highways and Interstates. So, our group was prepared to speak out and assist each of the 9 communities with bringing any specific concerns related to the zoning issues to the attention of the zoning committee and county commissioners, by preparing briefs and speaking out during the typcial public comments portion of such hearings.
