Statement to The Montgomery County Office of Cable and Broadband Services: on the ZTA

MoCoCableOfficeOctober 20, 2017 at 9:09 AM

This comment has been posted on behalf of Sue Present by the Office of Cable and Broadband Services:

The County should stop telling us that, unless the CE’s ZTA is adopted hook-line-and-sinker, the FCC will pre-empt local regulatory authority. That message is NOT credible! 

Last year, when the PHED Committee reviewed ZTA 16-05, it asked staff to examine other jurisdictions’ solutions. Whatever happened? Instead of incorporating other communities’ best practices, the CE’s ZTA has taken a rigid approach, giving a lot to the industry and taking a lot from residents/property owners. The draft CE’s ZTA, even more so than its predecessor (ZTA 16-05), unnecessarily and dangerously sacrifices our safety; property values; the aesthetics of our neighborhoods, streetscapes, and skylines; and many traditions and priorities that have been the bedrock of County policies. And it threatens our public resources, too.

This ZTA is still a draft, continuing to undergo changes. As a result, many uncertainties remain, such as:

• How will promised new language for “replacements” prohibit Spectrum Act extensions of 10 – 20 feet in height?
• What is the scope and text of intended revisions to planned Tower Committee regulations?
• What are the details of the new MOU with PEPCO that are supposed to limit pole heights (and I presume would limit additional poles, too)?

However, enough information has already been produced to demonstrate that this ZTA and companion legislation/regulations/policies must be further modified to sufficiently:

• Protect County residents’ and workforce safety;
• Preserve the aesthetic qualities of our neighborhoods, buildings, streetscapes, and skylines;
• Provide greater flexibility/alternatives for reviews;
• Ensure residents/property owners fair notice, access to records, transparent government activities, and the opportunities to participate in application reviews;
• Fund all review, monitoring, and oversight services solely through application fees;
• Align with the underlying Zoning Ordinance and other laws/regulations, and to maintain Community Compatibility; and
• Instill Countywide trust in the systems, agencies, and officials that would be the sole reviewers and approvers of so many more antennas and cell towers, when they have heretofore let the public down through their obfuscation, violation of County regulations, and subservience to the wireless industry.

-- Sue Present