Council approves Duke Energy request to add 120-foot communications tower at Belfast Road operations center

The City Council approved CZ-1224 to amend a conditional I-2 zoning district at the Duke Energy Progress operations center on Belfast Road to permit a 120-foot communications monopole that Duke says will support internal grid communications and emergency response.

Planning staff summarized the application and technical review. Mister Helmer, planning staff, said the application is an amendment to an existing industrial conditional zoning previously approved in December 2023 and that the new request adds a communications tower use. He said the tower is a monopole design with a maximum height of 120 feet and that the applicant proposes a setback equal to 150 percent of the tower height. Helmer told the council the property is well outside of right-of-way limits and that the Federal Aviation Administration and Seymour Johnson Air Force Base had been notified; the FAA provided a letter stating the proposed tower will not interfere with aircraft operations.

Amy Kraut, an attorney with Smith Anderson representing Duke Energy Progress, told the council the tower is for Duke’s internal communications and not a multi-carrier facility. “This isn’t a 300 foot tower where there's going to be multiple carriers,” Kraut said. “This is just used for Duke's internal purposes, which is why we don't allow anyone to locate on the pole.” She said the structure operates in line-of-sight with other Duke poles and is intended to improve outage response and reliability.

Application conditions and requested deviations were discussed in detail. The applicant requested exemptions under the Unified Development Ordinance section noted in the packet (proposed deviation from content requirements in UDO 5.5.4.j), permission for a non-opaque chain-link security fence with barbed wire in lieu of a solid fence, administrative approval for minor relocations of the tower within the property so long as setbacks are met, and a 90-day overlap allowance to keep an old tower in place while a replacement is activated.

Council members asked for procedural clarity because the meeting packet's report initially omitted the full language of the proposed conditions; staff confirmed an updated draft ordinance containing the conditions was on file and the council reviewed the conditions on page 143 of the agenda packet during the meeting. After that clarification, a council member moved to approve CZ-1224 including the proposed zoning conditions and deviations listed on page 143; the motion was seconded and passed without opposition.

The ordinance approved allows construction of a 120-foot monopole communications tower, enclosed within the operations center’s secure area, with the specific deviations and conditions included in the adopted ordinance. Planning staff will incorporate the conditions into the final ordinance and monitor compliance as the project proceeds.