Planning commission recommends approval of Network Towers fiber hub with screening and decommissioning conditions

The Orange County Planning Commission voted to recommend approval of a special-use permit for a fiber utility hub proposed by Network Towers 2 LLC, adding two conditions to require an opaque vegetative buffer around the compound and removal of equipment within one year if the facility ceases being used as a fiber regeneration facility.

The hub would occupy a 98-by-98-foot fenced compound within a 100-by-100-foot leased area on a roughly 146.95-acre parcel near Route 20 east of Mine Run Road (Route 621). Planning staff presented the application (SUP202400327) and a draft resolution (Resolution 25-01) recommending five standard conditions including paving the first 50 feet of the access road, a permanent stormwater conveyance channel, landscaping and fencing per the concept plan, and compliance with highway entrance spacing standards.

Drew Patterson, director of Network Towers, said the facility is a signal-regeneration site used to “boost the fiber signal” every roughly 40 miles and that the applicant had designed the site to minimize visibility. "I truly think it'll have minimal visibility from the highway," Patterson said, adding the compound will sit in existing vegetation, include an 8-foot composite fence and a front row of eastern arborvitae for screening.

Commissioners asked about the facility's siting close to the road, emergency access and fire safety, noise from backup generators, lease terms and future removal. Commissioner Van Hoven questioned why the compound was sited near the road on a large parcel; Patterson said the equipment is placed close to the roadway to meet technical and easement constraints and that the lease area is 100 by 100 feet. Patterson said gensets would run only during power outages and for brief monthly testing; he identified the measured generator noise figure as coming from the genset tests.

Commissioner Gaskell raised concerns about the longevity of the surrounding wood line and whether the vegetative screening could be maintained if the property were later logged. Patterson said the applicant's lease allows installing landscaping outside the 100-by-100 leased box and agreed the company would install and maintain double rows of arborvitae in front of the compound; he said he would discuss broader buffering with the property owner. Commissioners pressed for a durable solution and ultimately added a permit condition requiring maintenance of an opaque buffer around the entire facility and its driveway.

Commissioner Thompson moved to recommend approval of SUP202400327 to the Board of Supervisors as drafted in Resolution 25-01, amended to require (1) that if the site "ceases to be used as a fiber utility booster" all equipment and fencing be removed within one year and (2) that the applicant maintain an opaque vegetative buffer around the entire facility. The motion was seconded and passed on a recorded voice vote. Planning Commission members Van Hoven, DePasquale, Bryanton and Capel voted in favor on the roll call; the motion carried as presented.

The planning staff report noted the parcel is in an Agricultural A2 Future Land Use designation and concluded that the proposed hub, with the applicant's screening and the conditions, is consistent with the county's telecommunications objectives and is not expected to have negative public-health or environmental impacts. The conditions recommended in Resolution 25-01 (road paving, stormwater conveyance, culvert, landscape buffers and adherence to entrance-spacing standards) remain in the draft resolution the commission forwarded with the two new amendments.

The commission also discussed a lease term: Patterson said the typical lease term is 25 years and that the applicant would remove the facility if the lease is not renewed. The commission requested clearer decommissioning language in the conditions forwarded to the Board of Supervisors.

Votes at a glance: the Planning Commission recommended approval to the Board of Supervisors of SUP202400327 (draft Resolution 25-01 as amended) with the two added conditions (decommissioning within one year if the facility ceases use; maintenance of an opaque buffer).