ABZA grants Select Towers variance for fence and approves primary communications tower near South River Road

Sept. 24, 2025 — The Tippecanoe County Area Board of Zoning Appeals voted 6-0 to grant a variance reducing the required 40-foot front setback to 12 feet 5 inches for an eight-foot fence and related equipment cabinets and to approve a special exception for a primary communications tower on a leased 3,200-square-foot portion of a 22.839-acre tract southeast of South 350 West and South River Road.

Board members said the tower proposal and associated equipment were significant for local wireless coverage. The board acted after staff presented facts about floodplain constraints and the site’s location along the Wabash River Scenic Byway; staff recommended denying the setback variance as a self-imposed hardship but supported the tower special exception.

Christine Roehl, Area Plan Commission staff, told the board the property had been rezoned from R-1 to A and that much of the tract lies in…