Steve Burns
ROCKVILLE – (WMAL) Montgomery County Council President Nancy Floreen has introduced a bill to allow cell transmitters to be placed on short structures without a public hearing. The bill comes as “hundreds” of applications pile up, Floreen said, presenting a challenge to the County as they look to have public input on all of them.
“There are hundreds of these, and the ability to have public hearings on them all, is a real challenge,” Floreen told WMAL. “It would allow telecommunications facilities that are on short poles to be located throughout the county without having to go through a public hearing.”
She said this would mostly apply to cell companies looking to put their equipment on streetlight poles, which Floreen called “the next (big) thing.” She was uncertain of the visual impact of such modifications. The County Department of Transportation would still be able to review each application, Floreen said.
“We are using wireless more and more and more in residential neighborhoods,” she said. “So the issue is, how do they get served?”
The bill is up for a public hearing next month.
Copyright 2016 by WMAL.com. All Rights Reserved. (Photo: WMAL)
