A Baltimore County lawmaker said he plans to introduce legislation that would ban cell phone towers on school property and county-owned parkland.
The county?s appellate board Wednesday overturned approval for a cell phone tower near a tennis court and athletic fields at Randallstown High School, a victory for neighbors who said the 11-story pole and high-voltage electrical boxes could prove dangerous to students. But the ruling does not prevent companies from building elsewhere on school grounds, and other community groups could face similar battles, said Councilman Ken Oliver, a Democrat whose district includes Randallstown.
“I was glad someone had some sense,” Oliver said of the ruling. “But we don?t want to have to go through this again.” The ruling voids an agreement school officials signed with Omnipoint Communications, the parent company of T-Mobile, in May. For $1,500 a month, the county would lease space for a tower atop a fake light post.
The county school system is not entertaining other proposals from cell phone companies, spokesman Charles Herndon said. Other Maryland counties, including Howard and Montgomery, are allowing towers on school property, officials there said.
Local and state laws regulating cell phone towers are too vague, said Linda Dorsey-Walker, a former Randallstown High PTA resident who led the charge against the proposal.She said the company did not consider other potential sites within the mile-and-a-half radius identified as problematic.
“There is a law that says cell phone towers have the right to erect towers, but it doesn?t say where and under what conditions,” Dorsey-Walker said. “There is no inherent right for private corporations to earn profits on public land.”
Democratic state Sen. Bobby Zirkin said he is also drafting Baltimore County-specific legislation to ban towers from school grounds. Omnipoint can appeal the board?s decision to circuit court. The company?s attorney, Karl Nelson, did not return a call for comment.
