Orlando council approves 105-foot Starwood communication tower, requires monopole design

Orlando City Council on May 19 approved a conditional use permit for a 105-foot communications tower in the Starwood planned development, adopting a hearing officer's recommended order but adding a condition that the structure be built as a monopole rather than the proposed monopine.

The decision followed a quasi-judicial appeal of a municipal planning board recommendation to approve the tower. Elizabeth Dang, the city's planning director, told council the applicant reduced its original 150-foot request to 105 feet and that the revised plan met the city's separation and development standards. "Staff's recommendation is to adopt the hearing officer's recommended order," Dang said.

The petitioners argued the application was incomplete and dangerous to wetlands and wildlife. Petitioner David Grau said the tower would "irreversibly harm our community and natural resources," and criticized the administrative record for lacking alternative-site analysis, radio-frequency testing, and environmental assessment. He and other neighbors submitted…