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Planning board clears monopole swap for Gulfstream Towers cell site near Polk Parkway
Summary
The board approved a minor modification to a 2021 conditional use permit allowing Gulfstream Towers to replace an internally mounted unipole antenna with an externally mounted monopole array on a 1.44‑acre site east of Lakeland Highlands Road. Staff recommended approval, noting limited nearby residential exposure; vote was 6–0.
The Lakeland Planning and Zoning Board on Feb. 18 approved a minor modification to a conditional use permit that will change the design of a ground‑mounted personal wireless services tower east of Lakeland Highlands Road. Staff said the tower was originally approved in 2021 and that the new proposal keeps the same height (80 feet) but changes the antenna configuration to an externally mounted array on a monopole to better accommodate current 5G equipment.
Philip Scarce, executive planner with Community and Economic Development, told the board the site is commercially oriented (behind Sam’s Club, near a veterans hospital and the Polk Parkway) and is not adjacent to dense residential neighborhoods, which informed staff’s recommendation to approve the modification subject to standard conditions and updated attachments (landscape plan and access easement requirements). Applicant Mike Birkhead of Gulfstream Towers said carriers had difficulty fitting equipment into the original internal unit pole design and supported the monopole change; he confirmed acceptance of staff conditions and that permanent access easements would be recorded.
A board member moved approval and the board voted 6–0 to adopt the conditions and advance the item to final decision and recording processes.
