The Winona County Planning Commission voted unanimously to recommend that the County Board approve a conditional use permit for a 300-foot guyed telecommunications tower on land owned by Twila Peterson in Utica Township, sending the application forward with 10 staff-recommended conditions.

The county planner, Eric (staff), told commissioners the application seeks a conditional/interim use permit under Winona County zoning ordinance provisions cited in the staff report; the proposed tower would sit inside a roughly 100-by-100-foot leased compound, use an improved existing field entrance on Enterprise Drive, and be set about 180 feet from the road centerline and roughly 600 feet from the nearest neighboring dwelling. "The department is in support of granting this petition as a conditional use permit," Eric said as he summarized the staff report and recommended conditions.

Why it matters: commissioners and residents said improved cellular coverage is important to public safety and day-to-day life in areas the carriers consider "hard to cover" because of the county's bluffs and valleys. At the same time, several commissioners stressed they want to limit visual and landscape impacts and to maximize co‑location by other providers on any new structure.

Details and technical points presented at the hearing included: the tower is described as a 300-foot guyed structure (about 304 feet to the top of a lightning rod in the engineer drawings), engineered with three sets of guy anchors spaced roughly 120 degrees apart; the initial fenced equipment compound will be 50-by-50 feet inside the larger 100-by-100 leased area; and the engineer supplied a structural design letter stating that a worst-case collapse zone would be on the order of about 160 feet from the tower base. The consultant, Sean Hempstead of GSS Inc., told the commission the design will "handle 4 carriers total. The initial anchor tenant will be AT and T." He also said CloudOne Services will own the tower and that CloudOne’s business model is to add co‑locating carriers when feasible.

Staff noted environmental and historic‑resource screening: county archaeological‑probability mapping flagged portions of the general area as a higher probability zone, but the petitioner supplied a Phase I cultural resources survey that found no cultural or historic materials in the survey area. The petitioner also reported they met with Utica Township on June 9 and the township acknowledged the application and indicated support in the township form included in the packet.

A number of commissioners and the petitioner discussed notification and interference issues. Eric said notices went to landowners beyond the ordinance minimum (staff used about a half‑mile radius though the zoning ordinance/state minimum is a quarter mile) and that mailed packets included a GIS map and ordinance references. Commissioners asked about interference and the burden of proof for any interference complaints; staff characterized the interference condition as an older model condition and noted the Federal Communications Commission regulates emissions and equipment to prevent interference. Sean said the radios typically run between about 20 and 30 watts, not the high‑power levels used by broadcast stations.

Environmental review: the petitioners and consultant said that NEPA review and state historic preservation and tribal consultations had been started. The consultant cautioned the NEPA review could return comments or require changes but said the reviews were in progress.

Outcome and next steps: a commissioner moved to recommend approval with the findings of fact and the conditions prepared by staff; the motion passed by roll call (8-0). The commission chair noted the matter will be scheduled for consideration by the County Board on Sept. 9 at 9 a.m.