Planning and Zoning Commission approves special-use permit and height variance for proposed cell tower behind Rock of Faith Church

The Converse Planning and Zoning Commission approved a special-use permit and a variance on April 21 to allow a monopole cellular tower on property owned by Rock of Faith Missionary Baptist Church at 107 School Street.

The commission voted to approve the special-use permit to locate a wireless telecommunications facility on the parcel and separately approved a variance from the B-2 district height limit that will allow the taller monopole requested by the applicant. Assistant City Manager Nina Nixon Mendez told commissioners the site is behind the church and that staff recommended a camouflage aesthetic because the site is near downtown civic uses including city hall, police, municipal court and the public library. "We felt it important to consider an aesthetic element as part of this," Nixon Mendez said.

The permit and variance matter because staff and the applicant said the site would materially improve cellular coverage and reduce capacity strain on a nearby site. The applicant's agent, Vince Heaviger of Vincent Girard and…