Residents to AT&T: We Don't Want a Monopole at Lake Braddock Secondary

Burke-area residents continued to push AT&T to reconsider its proposal to build a monopole at Lake Braddock Secondary School (LBSS) at the Braddock District Land Use Committee meeting Tuesday.

Though only a handful of residents outside of committee members attended the meeting, those present raised similar health,safety and home property value concerns previously raised at a community meeting about the pole in May.

“I just don’t understand why they can’t build it around a non-populated area in a non-residential area,” said one resident who lives off of Burke Lake Road. “There’s enough areas around to put it somewhere else. It just bothers me a lot.”

Milestone Communications, which represents AT&T, has already proposed a location different than the one it first envisioned. Instead of building the proposed 130-foot monopole between the LBSS baseball field and the parking lot, the company has proposed install a light replacement pole near the school’s football field, and attaching the cell equipment to that existing pole.

Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) and LBSS staff approved the new location, said Len Forkas, president of Milestone. Milestone is in the process of amending their application with Fairfax County to include information about the alternative location. Tuesday’s presentation only served as an introduction to the application for the committee.

The replacement pole would be 120-feet tall, 10 feet lower than the original proposed pole, but it would still tower over the existing lights near the football field. The pole would replace a light near the announcement box and the equipment would be stored beneath the bleachers. 

Some committee members agreed the pole replacement was the best of the two options because of the location and change in height.

“You’re fortunate that they’re considering putting this on a lightpole where the majority of people won’t notice it’s there,” said Committee Member John Rephlo, who said he felt the monopole would be more of an eyesore for the community if it were located in the Kings Park Shopping Center. 

The shopping center was suggested to Milestone as an alternative location at the meeting in May. However, Cristian Hernandez, project manager with Milestone, said the shopping center “would not meet AT&T’s objective” because it sits on the fringe of the service area the monopole would serve.

In an attempt to ease resident concerns about health side-effects from exposure to the tower, Doug Hansen, a reviewer with the Fairfax County Department of Planning and Zoning, said governments are not allowed to consider health concerns when deciding whether to allow monopoles in a community.

“We understand what you’re saying, but from a federal regulation perspective, it is a non-addressable situation,” said Hansen.

The Braddock Land Use Committee will vote on their recommendation to the Fairfax County Planning Commission at their July meeting.

The public will have an opportunity to discuss the application in front of the Fairfax County Planning Commission on Sept. 19.