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Walton County TRC continues cell-tower replacement application to Jan. 7 for further review
Summary
The Walton County Technical Review Committee continued a request to replace an existing cell tower (USUFWB 32) to the Jan. 7 TRC meeting after staff said additional internal review and pending Eglin comments could affect whether a conditional-use process is required.
Chair called Item 2, a minor development application (USUFWB 32) submitted by Clark Partington on behalf of the Muscogee Nation of Florida to replace a cell tower on roughly 0.147 acres, and invited the applicant to comment.
Will Dunaway, representing the applicant, said the application is complete and asked the committee for clarity on why staff sought to table the matter. "The application is completed. It meets all of your requirements, and we'd like for you to make a determination," Dunaway said, adding that the project has been ongoing for more than a year and that temporary facilities have been used to maintain Verizon service for South Walton County.
Staff responded that two issues were in play: an internal question about whether a conditional-use review is required and outstanding comments from Eglin Air Force Base. The staff speaker said they had not yet reviewed some prior approvals and asked the applicant to provide documentation of any earlier temporary authorizations so staff could verify the record.
Dunaway emphasized the time sensitivity and county code limits, noting the code requires approval or denial within 90 days. "Anything that we can do to speed this issue up," he said, but he also agreed to cooperate with additional requests for records.
Given the outstanding internal questions and the need for Eglin's comments, the Chair removed the previous tabling request and moved to continue the item to the first TRC meeting in January. The committee approved a motion to continue the item to the Jan. 7 TRC meeting by voice vote.
The item will return to the TRC on January 7 for further consideration after the applicant supplies the requested documentation and staff completes its internal review and receives any external comments from Eglin.
