Help stop unlimited installation of cell towers!
The Montgomery County Council is considering allowing wireless companies to effectively decide unilaterally when and where to put up cell towers — anywhere, anytime throughout the county, with no due process, and in many cases without even a building permit.
Help prevent the toxic madness – Make your voice heard BEFORE the public hearing Tuesday 16 Sep 2025
https://actionnetwork.org/letters/oppose-zta25-11/
SUMMARY OF KEY DISCUSSION POINTS
• ZTA 25-11 will create a Temporary Telecommunications Facility limited use in all zones, defined as a monopole or portable wireless communications facility that does not have a permanent location on the ground.
• This new use will be permitted for 180 days, or up to 2 years with extensions. Review by the Transmission Facility Coordinating group will be required for certain facilities.
• Applicants will be required to demonstrate that the facility is needed for a qualifying reason, including natural disasters, an emergency declared by the government, a large conference or special event, a substantial maintenance project, and other similar reasons.
• A Planning, Housing, and Parks (PHP) Committee worksession is tentatively scheduled for October 6, 2025.
Here’s a more complete and balanced summary:
ZTA 25-11: Temporary Telecommunications Facilities (TTFs)
This amendment would define and permit “Temporary Telecommunications Facilities” (a monopole or portable wireless facility without permanent ground foundation) as a limited use in all zoning districts in Montgomery County. It aims to streamline permitting for temporary wireless infrastructure needed during emergencies, maintenance, large events, or when permanent facilities fail.
Key standards / requirements:
- Initial approval period up to 180 days, with written extensions possible prior to expiration, but total time (initial + extension) cannot exceed 2 years.
- Maximum height: 200 feet.
- If the facility is 80 feet or less, on wheels, and will be erected for under 30 days, no building permit required; otherwise, permit required.
- Required setbacks: at least 100 feet from abutting property line (can be reduced only by the Transmission Facility Coordinating Group if no reasonable alternative exists).
- Application must provide detailed information (equipment, height, color, lighting, screening), maps (surroundings, vegetation), visual simulations (from ≥ 3 directions), etc.
- Noise: generators must comply with County noise control rules; lighting only if required by FCC/FAA.
- Notice: property owners, homeowner/civic/renter/condo associations within 300 feet of the proposed facility must be notified of proposals, including height, setbacks, operation dates, etc.
- Removal & restoration: the facility must be removed and the site restored at the owner’s cost, within 48 hours after the approval period ends.
Criteria / “Need” conditions:
Applicants must demonstrate one of several qualifying reasons—natural disaster, emergency declared by government, large conference/special event, substantial maintenance on existing structure, capital project requiring uninterrupted service, relocation from buildings under renovation, or unforeseen circumstances that DPS deems sufficient.Other notes:
The Planning Board has recommended clarifying that any TTF erected for 30 days or more, even if under 80 feet, requires a building permit. The amendment becomes effective 20 days after adoption.
Sent Sep 2025 to all Montgomery County Maryland councilmembers —
Dear Council Members and County Executive Elrich,
I urge you to oppose the unneeded ZTA 25-11. If it continues to move forward, at a minimum, I urge you to support the amendments proposed by MC4T, which would narrow the scope of this ZTA to unforeseen situations and protect residential areas. You can find these amendments at
https://mc4tmd.blogspot.com/2025/09/testimony-zta25-11.html
This ZTA is a solution looking for a problem. Over the past 15 years, the County has reviewed only 9 applications for temporary towers. When these approvals have taken time, it has primarily been because the applicant failed to submit complete application materials, or failed to timely apply for a building permit.
Rather than comply with the existing zoning code, the industry is now asking for a giant loophole: the ability to put cell towers anywhere in the county, often without even obtaining a building permit – bypassing decades of precedent in local zoning.
ZTA 25-11 would allow cell towers anywhere in any type of zoning – including in residential neighborhoods, near apartments, and on school grounds, with no minimum setback.
Instead of this ill-conceived change, the Council should repeal ZTAs 22-01 and 19-07, the wildly unpopular zoning changes that allow cell towers just 30 feet from homes.
Please add this letter to the record for ZTA 25-11
Sincerely,
https://wp.darnestown.net/?s=cell+towers
See also
CC:
councilmember.albornoz@montgomerycountymd.gov
councilmember.fani-gonzalez@montgomerycountymd.gov
councilmember.friedson@montgomerycountymd.gov
Councilmember.Glass@montgomerycountymd.gov
Councilmember.Jawando@montgomerycountymd.gov
Councilmember.Katz@montgomerycountymd.gov
Councilmember.Luedtke@montgomerycountymd.gov
councilmember.Mink@montgomerycountymd.gov
Councilmember.Sayles@montgomerycountymd.gov
councilmember.stewart@montgomerycountymd.gov
Councilmember.Balcombe@montgomerycountymd.gov
