RESIDENT ADVOCATES' AMENDMENTS MUST BE ADOPTED or ZTA 18-11 MUST BE VOTED DOWN

RESIDENT ADVOCATES' AMENDMENTS MUST BE ADOPTED or ZTA 18-11 MUST BE VOTED DOWN

My home is a pre-designated site for the installment of a 5G Small Cell Tower. As such I have real concerns regarding:

·      Health and safety concerns reading the emissions coming from the 5G antennas and the 60-foot set back requirements. The positioning of the antenna array will be directly in line with my bedroom windows. This one concern alone should be sufficient to cause the County Counsel to adopt the changes recommended in the RESIDENT ADVOCATES' AMENDMENTS! They are required to do this by the County Charter which clearly and unequivocally charges the County Counsel as follows:

Montgomery County Charter

Montgomery County Government 

May 19, 1995

ARTICLE 1. LEGISLATIVE BRANCH

SECTION 101: County Council

All legislative powers which may be exercised by Montgomery County under the Constitution and laws of Maryland, including all law making powers heretofore exercised by the General Assembly of Maryland but transferred to the people of the County by virtue of the adoption of this Charter, and the legislative powers vested in the County Commissioners as a District Council for the Montgomery County Suburban District, shall be vested in the County Council. The legislative power shall also include, but shall not be limited to, the power to enact public local laws for the County and repeal or amend local laws for the County heretofore enacted by the General Assembly upon the matters covered by Article 25A, Annotated Code of Maryland, 1957, as now in force or hereafter amended, and the power to legislate for the peace, good government, health, safetyor welfare of the County.Nothing herein contained shall be construed to authorize or empower the County Council to enact laws or regulations for any incorporated town, village or municipality in said County on any matter covered by the powers granted to said town, village or municipality by the act incorporating it or any subsequent act or acts amendatory thereto.

·      My property value will drop with the installation of a 5G Small Cell Tower on the county easement adjacent to my property. However, the emissions from the tower do not remain on the county’s easement but do in fact invade my personal property.  I see this as an extension of the right of a government or its agent under eminent domain to expropriate private property for public use, with payment of compensation. Only there is no provision for payment or compensation by either the county or the vendors. 

Research indicates that over 90% of home buyers and renters are less interested in properties near cell towers and would pay less for a property in close vicinity to cellular antennas. Documentation of a price drop up to 20% is found in multiple surveys and published articles as listed below.The US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) considers cell towers as “Hazards and Nuisances.”

The realtor industry has written several articles documenting the property devaluation after communication towers are built near property. 

National Association of REALTORS® Lists References including EHTs page on their Cell Towers Page . More at https://www.nar.realtor/cell-phone-towers#section-165807

The Cost of Convenience: Estimating the Impact of Communication Antennas on Residential Property Values (Land Economics, Feb. 2016)

The Lo Down on Cell Towers, Neighborhood Values, and the Secretive Telecoms (link is external) (The Dissident Voice, Dec. 19, 2015)

Cell Towers: Not in My Back Yard (Tedium Blog, Aug. 5, 2015)

·      My community was carefully planned over 30 years ago to ensure that utilities were buried underground producing a cleaner environment, and an esthetically pleasant place to live, work and raise families. The installation of 5G cell tower equipment above ground will destroy this plan by the placement of outsized utility poles, boxes and wiring above ground and in highly visible locations such as my front yard. 

Again, it is absolutely incumbent on the County Counsel, it is their sworn duty in accordance with the County Charter to insure “…the health, safety or welfareof the County”. The installation of 5G equipment in my community will have a deleterious and negative impact on the welfare of my community. 

Note: This is from citizen testimony on the ZTA 18-11