The Brandon Planning and Zoning Commission voted 5-0 to recommend that city council approve rezoning of 108 West Park Street so Elevated Towers can seek a conditional use permit to build a wireless telecommunications tower.

The recommendation came after a presentation from Craig Snyder of Elevated Towers and public comment from neighborhood residents and parents who said the parcel is too close to homes and nearby schools.

Commissioners moved to recommend approval of rezoning from the property’s current NRC classification to GB, a change that would allow a telecommunications tower as a conditional use. The commission’s unanimous vote followed more than an hour of discussion about coverage gaps on Brandon’s south side, alternative sites the company says it examined, and concerns about radio-frequency (RF) exposure near school property.

Craig Snyder, a representative of Elevated Towers, told the commission the company had evaluated multiple sites across the city and concluded the Alliance-owned parcel at 108 West Park best meets technical, setback and fiber-connectivity needs. He said the city’s existing towers — one on the north side and a Verizon antenna on a water tower near the high school — do not provide adequate redundancy or capacity for growing data demand. “Redundancy with infrastructure is also critical,” Snyder said, noting towers are used for emergency 911 calls and that demand for data per user has risen substantially in recent years.

Snyder also discussed legal limits on local review of RF emissions, citing the Telecommunications Act of 1996 and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) standards. He said Elevated Towers has hired Owl Engineering of Minneapolis and engineer Gary Leiszek to conduct an independent RF study and that the company will make those results available. “We have agreed to commission an independent third party RF study,” Snyder said.

Residents and parents urged the commission to reject the rezoning or to ensure alternate locations were exhaustively explored. Megan Penning, who identified herself as a resident at 1301 South Fernwood Avenue and said she organized an informal petition of more than 150 names, said she was “not opposed to a cell phone tower being added to our city” but objected to this location because of its proximity to an elementary school and an intermediate school. Penning said the city council denied the rezone in a previous hearing five months earlier and that neighborhood opposition remains strong.

Erin Taggart, another nearby resident, cited independent advocacy guidance and recent court activity challenging FCC standards. Taggart said the property line from 108 West Park to one school property line is about 85 feet, the school building is about 373 feet away, and a nearby intermediate school sits roughly 928 feet away. She described an estimated student population of about 1,300 who spend their days at those schools and asked the commission to favor a more distant site while federal RF guidance is under judicial review.

Elevated Towers answered questions about alternative locations, explaining several parcels were unavailable for technical, zoning or landowner reasons: one potential site was zoned R-2/R-3 and not permitted for towers, another was disqualified by state and federal historic-preservation concerns near burial mounds, and other landowners declined to lease. Company representatives said a 90-foot tower had been proposed for 108 West Park (members at the meeting also discussed 120-foot towers in coverage models) and argued that city-owned options such as Aspen Park or institutional zoning have trade-offs and legal complexity.

City staff outlined the timeline for city council review if the commission’s recommendation is forwarded. Brian Reed, city staff, said council will consider a first reading of the rezoning ordinance at its next meeting, scheduled Monday, Oct. 20; a second reading would follow in November, and if adopted an ordinance would be published and take effect 20 days after publication. Reed said the conditional use permit needed to actually construct a wireless tower in the GB district would not be considered until after rezoning takes effect; staff estimated a conditional-use application could appear by December, subject to appeals.

The commission’s roll-call vote recorded five affirmative responses. The motion to recommend approval was made and seconded on the record; the vote tally during roll call was recorded as: Megan — Aye; Brooks — Aye; Rob — Aye; Alyssa — Aye; Mike — Aye. The commission’s recommendation will be forwarded to the Brandon City Council for its consideration at the Oct. 20 meeting.

If the council approves rezoning, Elevated Towers must return for a conditional use review before a tower could be permitted. The company has said it will supply an independent RF study in time for the conditional-use review and acknowledged additional permitting steps and appeals could follow.

Public comment and the company’s packet, along with the commission’s recommendation, will be part of the record forwarded to city council.