Westleigh Homeowners Association Opposes ZTA 18-11

"Reject ZTA 18-11" 5G Microwave Tower Zoning

Position of Westleigh Homeowners Association ZTA 18-11 that will allow cell towers in front of homes  - 337 Home Owners targeted for new towers

I am taking time from enjoying the beauty of a vacation at Massanutten to write to you about a situation which you all can EASILY fix. And, it must be SOON, as in RIGHT NOW.

Our neighborhood is targeted as ground zero for installation of 5G towers, under the Zoning Text amendment ZTA 18-11. The County Council is RUSHING, and it should immediately stop trying to cram in a “legacy” decision in the next week.

We are NOT LUDDITES. We want all those things that 5G can bring to our neighborhood: faster data, lower latency (so that self-driving cars don’t decide “too late”), telemedicine for aging in place, “telepresence” so we can bring realistic comfort and companionship to relatives and friends. And, we want to “keep up with China”. We totally understand that the U.S MUST keep/gain a leadership position in 5G, so that we reap the benefit of unleashing developers world-wide to develop applications and techniques to improve our lives.

BUT, the particular 5G towers envisioned under ZTA 18-11 are OBSOLETE.  They belong in the “DUSTBIN OF HISTORY”. There is no requirement for 5G antennas to be 30 ft from homes, and placed in line-of-site configurations, ruining the carefully designed and well-loved beauty of our neighborhood. Almost nobody wants these INTRUSIVE, UNSAFE, and OBSOLETE towers in our Westleigh neighborhood. Instead, 5G can be delivered from small 5G antennas on existing cell towers, or with 5G antennas on poles on streets outside residential neighborhoods. And we can state this clearly without going into the unresolved puzzle of whether the microwaves from each tower destroy our bodies.

Please take the time RIGHT NOW to watch the CEO of Verizon tell you 5G TOWERS CAN BE 3,000 FEET FROM YOUR HOME. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwAsr1pC13Q  

We implore the Council to take the time to get this right. Work with us. The downside of failing to STOP ZTA 18-11 are IMMEDIATE AND REAL. We are counting on the Council to take the time to hear the County's expert residents on this issue, with up-to-date data, before a permanent mistake is made.  

REJECT ZTA 18-11 as OVERTAKEN BY EVENTS in its current form, and work to develop a better ZTA, based on the new information, and rapidly-improving technology that will make the road forward come into focus, and deserving the enthusiastic support of the County’s citizens.

This decision to REJECT ZTA 18-11 is EASY. Fortunately, as reported in the Washington Post on October 1, Verizon is delivering 5G service to four cities TODAY.  https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2018/10/01/verizon-customers-four-cities-are-officially-getting-g-based-internet-service-today/?utm_term=.f7eebad43d88    The path is clear. This is NOT "EITHER/OR".    WE ALL WANT MONTGOMERY COUNTY TO BE WITH THE LEADERS, not OBSOLETE.

For us, this is personal.  We voted with our feet when we bought property here. We have counted on the County Council, and other government agencies, to do the right thing relative to safety, and preservation of health and quality of life, just as the Council has led to County to very high education standards and results in the past decades.  We cannot easily just move away if things go awry.  

But, we can and will VOTE. Any Council member that refuses to take the time to get this right, who pollutes our neighborhood with OBSOLETE, UGLY towers for decades, can expect a deserved backlash on November 6.   I ask this with all due respect: Do you want one of your last actions this term to be a mistake?  REJECT ZTA 18-11.

Sincerely,

 

 President of Westleigh Homeowners Association Inc.  c/o ABS, 847-I Quince Orchard Blvd.   Gaithersburg, MD 20878  www.westleighhoa.org     westleighhoa@gmail.com