UGLY ALERT: City of Stonecrest Allows 200' Cell Tower

 

Katrina Langford (far left) Lynn Goodwin, Phillip Kelly and Virginia Pierce-Kelly stand in front of the cell built behind their neighborhood earlier this year.  

Photo: EMILY HANEY / emily.haney@ajc.com

The city of Stonecrest said a controversial cell tower built behind homes earlier this year can remain standing, using a legal reasoning its neighbors called problematic.

Stonecrest City Attorney Winston Denmark released an opinion late last week saying the tower’s construction in mid-January was legal, despite decades-old documents suggesting the land was only zoned commercial on the condition that a summer day care be built there.  

The city approved a permit last year for Vertical Bridge to construct the cell tower on Evans Mill Road. 

The 199-foot tower sits behind homes in a subdivision, where residents have grown frustrated at the city’s response.  The residents were frustrated that is was built without a public hearing being held. Not only is it an eyesore, they said, but they are also worried about the possible health effects of cell towers.

(Read more here:  https://www.ajc.com/news/local/residents-irate-city-backs-cell-tower-citing-legal-technicality/obB13KDZEKYv1tEGSc72DN/)

No More Cell Towers in City of Stonecrest, GA (or so they say)

From the AJC, Local Update

March 12, 2019

By

• J.D. Capelouto, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The Stonecrest City Council is moving to enact a moratorium on cell towers after hearing from angry residents about an existing tower that may violate city code.

A Monday night meeting was packed with residents, several of whom held yellow signs with messages like “Do not cell out”and “Remove cell phone tower.”  

The councilors voted to direct the city attorney to draft a 60-day moratorium on the construction of cell towers while the city re-examines the tower built in January off Evans Mill Road.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Friday that records suggest the tower may have been improperly constructed on land zoned for commercial use for a day care.

The moratorium would not go into effect until the declaration is put in writing, City Attorney Winston Denmark pointed out following the decision late Monday. The City Council would have to vote at its next meeting to approve the details of the written moratorium. 

The move will give the city time to “flesh out details and legalities” about the cell tower on Evans Mill Road and the process for building others, Councilmember Diane Adoma said. 

“I’m asking that we simply take some action, which is the right thing to do,” said Adoma, who represents the district where the tower sits.

residents advocate for the removal of a cell tower at Monday night's City Council meeting. (Photo: J.D. CAPELOUTO / jdcapelouto@ajc.com)