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Stow City planning commission approves 195-foot radio tower at Darrow Road with 25-foot setback variance
Summary
The Stow City Planning Commission approved PC-2025-001 to allow a 195-foot radio tower at 3926 Darrow Road, granting a 25-foot variance from the code-required 100-foot setback from a residential property line; the commission voted unanimously.
The Stow City Planning Commission approved PC-2025-001 to allow construction of a 195-foot radio tower inside the fenced water-tower compound at 3926 Darrow Road, voting unanimously in favor.
The project, presented as a conditional-use site plan and a variance request, was described by Gerald Dolson, a project engineer with Roger Engineers, as necessary to relocate communications equipment from the existing 20-year-old water tower. "We're under an EPA order to paint the tower. It's 20 years old," Dolson said. He told commissioners relocating the equipment will avoid repeated 12-hour daily shutdowns of the Akron 800 radio system that would otherwise be required during future maintenance.
The commission's staff presentation said the tower would sit within the fenced water-tower lot just north of City Hall and northwest of the post office. The tower would be approximately 75 feet from the nearest property line, about 185 feet from the nearest dwelling and roughly 420 feet from the Darrow Road right of way. The zoning standard cited by staff requires a 100-foot separation from a dwelling or residential district; the applicant requested a 25-foot variance from that standard.
Dolson described the tower as permanent and said the new structure will carry the communications equipment currently mounted on the water tower, with two microwave links oriented toward Akron and Twinsburg so technicians will not be exposed to microwave beams during maintenance. He said foundation work would take a few days, erection of the tower itself is typically one day, and wiring could take a few additional days; fabrication is done offsite.
Commissioners asked about setbacks, the presence of a nearby salt barn at 3856 Darrow Road and whether the project had Fire Department clearance. Staff said the salt barn is not treated as a utility structure for setback purposes and that the fire department had submitted standard comments that will be addressed at the building permit stage; those comments are not a condition of approval.
After discussion, a motion to approve PC-2025-001 passed on a recorded roll call: Mrs. Clancy — yes; Mr. Wagner — yes; Mrs. Trepto — yes; Mr. DeCuliat — yes; Mr. Basic — yes.
The approval authorizes the conditional-use classification and the requested variance; staff and the applicant indicated required building permits, engineering calculations (including FAA and structural requirements for wind and ice loads) and Fire Department comments will be handled in subsequent permit review.
