County won't allow 11-story pole on Randallstown High School site
By Jennifer McMenamin
Sun reporter
August 23, 2007
Finding that the risks of building a cell phone tower near tennis courts and athletic fields at Randallstown High School were too great, the Baltimore County Board of Appeals overturned yesterday a zoning commissioner's ruling to allow the project.
The three-member panel debated the proposal for about an hour before unanimously agreeing that T-Mobile should not be allowed to lease a patch of land on the high school campus to build the tower.
"I don't think a school is an appropriate place for a cell tower," said Margaret M. Brassil, chairwoman of the panel considering the cell tower case. "I hate to say this, but it's kind of like the old smell test. It just smells bad."
Community activists who attended the panel's public deliberation session yesterday and who have fought plans for the 11-story tower's construction expressed satisfaction.
"I'm very pleased," said Aaron Plymouth, immediate past president of Randallstown High's Parent Teacher Student Association and the Randallstown resident who appealed the zoning commissioner's decision to allow the cell tower. "The community would have been more satisfied and less in opposition if a different location on the 42-acre property would have been chosen."
Omnipoint Communications Cap Operations and T-Mobile sought to construct a fake light pole among the school's existing outdoor lights to hold the cell phone tower. In their written filings, lawyers representing the company in the zoning case characterized the plan as a "stealth option" that provided the least intrusive means of offering cell phone coverage for the area.
The company said the new tower was needed to address "substandard coverage" along sections of Offutt and Winands roads as well as the densely populated neighborhoods that surround Randallstown High. In the absence of commercially zoned land, T-Mobile engineers determined that the school was the best and "only logical option" for a new tower because of the property's elevation, size and location.
"As many wireless customers now use mobile phones as their sole phones, residential penetration is a critical coverage objective," lawyers Karl J. Nelson and G. David Dean wrote in papers filed in the case.
The school board agreed to lease T-Mobile the necessary land for $1,500 a month for 25 years.
But area residents and community activists objected.
They expressed concern that students and others might be curious about the tower and its accompanying refrigerator-sized electrical boxes and be tempted to climb the tower or scale the 8-foot fence that would encircle the equipment.
They argued that building the cell tower on school grounds would present greater risks than constructing it some place used less frequently by children, teenagers and area residents.
And they contended that T-Mobile wanted the tower "to gain a competitive edge in the industry" rather than to address complaints from existing customers, according to written filings submitted by the deputy people's counsel for Baltimore County.
"It was a matter of greed," said Linda Dorsey-Walker, a former Randallstown High PTSA officer and area resident. "They were unconcerned if it did pose a safety issue for children."
Members of the appeals board that heard the case disagreed on whether schools are inherently unsafe locations for cell towers.
While Brassil expressed frustration that the County Council had not simply outlawed such structures on school property, board member Robert W. Witt said he was troubled only by the proposed location of this tower near Randallstown High's recreation fields, tennis courts and school entrance.
"I had nothing against them putting a tower on school property," he explained.
T-Mobile will have 30 days after the board's written decision is issued to appeal the case to the circuit court. Lawyers representing the company could not be reached yesterday.
Realizing that the issue might not be settled with this case, state Sen. Bobby A. Zirkin said he still intends to introduce legislation aimed at banning cell phone towers from public school property.
"I don't think this decision prohibits it carte blanche," he said. "They could just come back and do it a different way."
T-Mobile said it has a cell phone tower identical to the one proposed for Randallstown near a baseball field at a Baltimore County elementary school as well similar facilities near schools in Montgomery and Charles counties, according to written filings.
Kara Calder, a Baltimore County schools spokeswoman, said there is a cell tower near Fullerton Elementary but that the structure does not sit on land owned by the school system.
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Sen. Zirkin Fights Plan For Phone Tower At School
By Gina Davis
Sun Reporter
Originally published June 8, 2007
Angry about a decision they say was made without community consultation, local legislators and advocates are pressing the Baltimore County school board to scrap plans for a cell phone tower to be built at Randallstown High School -- a project that would pump an estimated $450,000 into the school system.
State Sen. Bobby A. Zirkin said he plans to submit legislation designed to ban cell phone towers from school properties in the county and will file an injunction, if necessary, to stop construction of the 110-foot tower at Randallstown High on Offutt Road.
"Please be advised that I hope to make any plans related to your cell phone tower project at Randallstown High School illegal," Zirkin wrote in a June 1 letter to county schools Superintendent Joe A. Hairston. "I will be doing everything in my power to stop this project."
Community advocates say they are worried about health risks and safety hazards -- concerns they say they were unable to express to the school board.
"The way they went about it was hush-hush," community activist Ella White Campbell said. "I was not aware that it came before the planning board and the school board."
County Councilman Kenneth N. Oliver, whose 4th District includes Randallstown, said yesterday that he would support Zirkin's legislation to prohibit similar projects. He added that while the council has no procedural recourse to stop the Randallstown project, he hopes the school board will reconsider its plans.
"They should stop this process and talk to the community," Oliver said. "I hope the school system itself will cancel the contract, or try to cancel it, and not put any cell towers on any county properties, especially schools."
Resident Aaron Plymouth's appeal of the county zoning board's decision to permit the tower is pending after a hearing last month. Both sides are expected to file legal briefs by next Friday, according to Plymouth, former president of the Parent Teacher Student Association at Randallstown High.
State Sen. Delores G. Kelley and Campbell plan to meet, perhaps as early as next week, with Hairston to discuss their concerns.
"We want to make sure this never happens again," Campbell, executive director of the Liberty Road Community Council, an umbrella organization of community groups in the Liberty Road corridor, said yesterday.
Through a school system spokeswoman, Hairston said yesterday that he "is interested in listening to multiple voices in the community."
Some in the community are concerned about the possible effects of the electrical energy emitted from a tower.
In the Baltimore area, neither Harford nor Anne Arundel County has cell phone towers on school properties. Carroll County's director of facilities, Ray Prokop, said that to the best of his knowledge, the school system has no towers, but the local municipalities are permitted to place them atop water towers that are on school grounds.
In Baltimore County, at least one school, Fullerton Elementary, has a cell phone tower on its property, according to community leaders. But schools spokeswoman Kara Calder said yesterday that school officials could not confirm this.
In September 2005, the county school board agreed to lease property at Randallstown High to T-Mobile so the company could build the cell phone tower near the school's tennis court. The 25-year lease agreement requires T-Mobile to pay the school system $1,500 a month. The tower would be mounted atop an existing light stand and would be surrounded by fencing, though not an electrified fence as some community leaders had been told, according to T-Mobile spokeswoman Jane Builder. She added that the tower could be built within two weeks of the resolution of the legal issues.
Minutes from an August 2004 school board meeting -- when members agreed to allow T-Mobile to conduct a feasibility study, which included soil testing -- indicate that the board did not plan to seek community opinion.
When school board member Joy Shillman asked whether the community would be consulted, Don Krempel, who was then executive director for Physical Facilities for the school system, "responded since the cell tower would be on school property, the community would not have input," according to the minutes from the meeting Aug. 10, 2004.
Campbell said residents are worried because the tower is expected to be built near the school's tennis court, baseball field and parking lot. She said that because area residents often visit the school for recreational purposes, people could be injured if they climb into the fenced-in area to chase after balls near the tower.
Zirkin, who said he testified at last month's appeal before the zoning board, added that the school board's action illustrates his concerns that the panel is unresponsive to the community.
"They believe the schools belong to the school system, not the community," he said. "There was no public notice whatsoever. If they had done so, they would know that the community was opposed."
Sun Reporter
Originally published June 8, 2007
Angry about a decision they say was made without community consultation, local legislators and advocates are pressing the Baltimore County school board to scrap plans for a cell phone tower to be built at Randallstown High School -- a project that would pump an estimated $450,000 into the school system.
State Sen. Bobby A. Zirkin said he plans to submit legislation designed to ban cell phone towers from school properties in the county and will file an injunction, if necessary, to stop construction of the 110-foot tower at Randallstown High on Offutt Road.
"Please be advised that I hope to make any plans related to your cell phone tower project at Randallstown High School illegal," Zirkin wrote in a June 1 letter to county schools Superintendent Joe A. Hairston. "I will be doing everything in my power to stop this project."
Community advocates say they are worried about health risks and safety hazards -- concerns they say they were unable to express to the school board.
"The way they went about it was hush-hush," community activist Ella White Campbell said. "I was not aware that it came before the planning board and the school board."
County Councilman Kenneth N. Oliver, whose 4th District includes Randallstown, said yesterday that he would support Zirkin's legislation to prohibit similar projects. He added that while the council has no procedural recourse to stop the Randallstown project, he hopes the school board will reconsider its plans.
"They should stop this process and talk to the community," Oliver said. "I hope the school system itself will cancel the contract, or try to cancel it, and not put any cell towers on any county properties, especially schools."
Resident Aaron Plymouth's appeal of the county zoning board's decision to permit the tower is pending after a hearing last month. Both sides are expected to file legal briefs by next Friday, according to Plymouth, former president of the Parent Teacher Student Association at Randallstown High.
State Sen. Delores G. Kelley and Campbell plan to meet, perhaps as early as next week, with Hairston to discuss their concerns.
"We want to make sure this never happens again," Campbell, executive director of the Liberty Road Community Council, an umbrella organization of community groups in the Liberty Road corridor, said yesterday.
Through a school system spokeswoman, Hairston said yesterday that he "is interested in listening to multiple voices in the community."
Some in the community are concerned about the possible effects of the electrical energy emitted from a tower.
In the Baltimore area, neither Harford nor Anne Arundel County has cell phone towers on school properties. Carroll County's director of facilities, Ray Prokop, said that to the best of his knowledge, the school system has no towers, but the local municipalities are permitted to place them atop water towers that are on school grounds.
In Baltimore County, at least one school, Fullerton Elementary, has a cell phone tower on its property, according to community leaders. But schools spokeswoman Kara Calder said yesterday that school officials could not confirm this.
In September 2005, the county school board agreed to lease property at Randallstown High to T-Mobile so the company could build the cell phone tower near the school's tennis court. The 25-year lease agreement requires T-Mobile to pay the school system $1,500 a month. The tower would be mounted atop an existing light stand and would be surrounded by fencing, though not an electrified fence as some community leaders had been told, according to T-Mobile spokeswoman Jane Builder. She added that the tower could be built within two weeks of the resolution of the legal issues.
Minutes from an August 2004 school board meeting -- when members agreed to allow T-Mobile to conduct a feasibility study, which included soil testing -- indicate that the board did not plan to seek community opinion.
When school board member Joy Shillman asked whether the community would be consulted, Don Krempel, who was then executive director for Physical Facilities for the school system, "responded since the cell tower would be on school property, the community would not have input," according to the minutes from the meeting Aug. 10, 2004.
Campbell said residents are worried because the tower is expected to be built near the school's tennis court, baseball field and parking lot. She said that because area residents often visit the school for recreational purposes, people could be injured if they climb into the fenced-in area to chase after balls near the tower.
Zirkin, who said he testified at last month's appeal before the zoning board, added that the school board's action illustrates his concerns that the panel is unresponsive to the community.
"They believe the schools belong to the school system, not the community," he said. "There was no public notice whatsoever. If they had done so, they would know that the community was opposed."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)