Planning Commission recommends approval of 160-foot public-safety radio tower at Joint Operations site

The Lee's Summit Planning Commission on July 25 recommended approval of a special-use permit for a 160-foot telecommunications tower at the city’s Joint Operations facility on Northeast Tudor Road.

The action recommends city approval of application PL2025-118, a special-use permit that would allow a 150-foot monopole plus a 10-foot lightning rod on the south end of the new Joint Operations campus. Hector Soto Jr., the City’s senior planner, told the commission the hearing was limited to the tower’s location and that the project consolidates public-safety communications systems now housed on a privately leased tower.

"The application before you tonight is consideration solely for the location of the tower," Senior Planner Hector Soto Jr. said during his presentation. He described three requested modifications to the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO): a reduced setback from the south property line, an exception to the UDO’s 1-mile minimum separation between similar towers, and a finish exception to allow a galvanized (unpainted) monopole instead of a painted tower.

Applicant Alan Talkington of Tusk Consulting, representing the city project team, said he had no separate presentation beyond the…