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BZA grants special exception for Duke Energy communications tower at Bad Creek Road parcel
Summary
The board approved a special exception allowing a replacement communications tower on Duke Energy property near Bad Creek Reservoir; applicant said the existing tower will be removed once the new monopole is operational and the new facility is necessary to maintain radio communications to a substation during construction.
The Oconee County Board of Zoning Appeals approved a special exception for a communications tower on a Duke Energy parcel at 100 Bad Creek Road near Bad Creek Reservoir.
Attorney Sarah Spruill, representing the applicant team including Tower Engineering Professionals and Duke Energy, said Duke previously built a larger tower on the parcel but found it did not provide the needed radio coverage. "Duke discovered that it didn't work to transmit the radio signals on that site," Spruill told the board. She said the company seeks a replacement monopole so Duke can maintain communications with its substation; the existing four-legged tower will be removed as soon as the new tower is built and operational, Spruill said.
Applicants described the parcel as a very large, mostly rural tract of nearly 1,900 acres and said there were no responses in opposition to the required balloon test. The application was presented as consistent with the county comprehensive plan and county board members found the special-exception criteria met. The board recorded unanimous approval.
Why it matters: the special exception will allow Duke Energy to replace end-of-life radio infrastructure used to operate and maintain electric facilities on a large county-owned or -managed parcel near Bad Creek Reservoir. Applicant testimony emphasized minimal traffic or visual impacts and no public responses to the balloon test in the hearing record.
Details and conditions: the hearing record notes TMS number 016-00-01-001 and the address 100 Bad Creek Road, Salem. Jason, a board member, recused himself at the start of the item, stating he is a contract employee of Duke Energy; the record shows he stepped aside from deliberations. Applicant materials and testimony said the new monopole would replace the existing tower and that the old tower would be removed once the new structure was operational. The exact proposed height of the replacement monopole was not specified in the hearing record presented at the meeting.
