T-Mobile Tower Contract Terminated

T-Mobile’s contract with the DeKalb County School System in Georgia has been terminated. The contract would have allowed T-Mobile to construct a tower at Briarlake Elementary School. In 2011, when the School Board first approved T-Mobile proposal to build towers at several elementary schools, chaos abounded. Parents and community members were against the towers being placed on school property. They formed a group called “No Briarlake Tower” and hired an attorney. When the School Board ultimately ended up siding with the group, and refused to grant T-Mobile a permit to construct the monopole at Briarlake Elementary School, the company filed suit in federal court. However, when U.S. District Judge Thomas Thrash voted in favor of the School Board, on a different matter, T-Mobile dropped the lawsuit regarding Briarlake. Judge Trash sided with the county when he found that Lakeside High School, another potential tower location, was zoned for residential use, and it would have to be rezoned to allow for the tower’s construction. After this ruling, T-Mobile dropped plans for nine towers throughout the county.