Planning commission considers zoning changes to allow cell towers on large single-family lots

The Forest Lake Planning Commission held a public hearing on a proposed zoning text amendment intended to ease rules for locating wireless communication towers in parts of the city.

Staff told the commission the request, brought by Buell Consulting LLC on behalf of Hosanna Lutheran Church and AT and T, is a citywide code change rather than site approval. The proposal would allow towers in single-family residential districts through a conditional use permit, and would lower the minimum lot size in residential zones for institutional uses from 10 acres to 2.5 acres so churches and similar institutions could be eligible.

Staff emphasized the amendment would apply broadly and said it had reviewed the proposal for comprehensive impacts across the city. The presentation noted the current code requires tower setbacks equal to twice the tower height from dwellings and one tower height from property lines; the applicant proposes reducing those distances and accepting an engineered "fall zone" letter that defines a collapse or fall envelope.

Blair Ransom, representing Buell Consulting, told commissioners that setback requirements and full tower-height setbacks can limit siting options and that modern towers are designed with break points "so basically, when stress is put on that tower, it's not gonna rip out of its foundation like a tree. It's going to break at certain points, and that's why it collapses on itself." He said the proposed approach is used in other municipalities and argued that adding flexibility would allow better integration, camouflage and shared use by multiple carriers.

Commissioners raised safety and visual-impact concerns, including whether engineered fall zones would adequately protect nearby dwellings and how lower lot-size thresholds could allow towers next to small residential lots. Staff clarified the proposed institutional-use caveat and said a parcel would still need to be guided for institutional use on the comprehensive-plan map in addition to meeting size requirements; they warned that tying eligibility to future land-use designations could create long-term enforcement and interpretation questions.

A commissioner asked about insurance if a tower fell and caused injury; staff responded the zoning code does not address insurance requirements and that such coverage is typically governed by private agreements between an operator and the landowner rather than by the city's zoning code.

A motion was offered to recommend the city council adopt the zoning text amendment as presented "with consideration by staff of the further definition of residential dwelling." The motion was seconded and discussed on the record. The provided transcript does not record a final roll-call vote on that recommendation or a city-council action.

Next steps noted on the record were that a CUP or site-specific application would require neighborhood notice and a separate hearing if an applicant later proposed a particular parcel. The commission's recommendation (if approved by the commission in a later recorded vote) would be forwarded to the Forest Lake City Council for consideration.