Walton County’s Technical Review Committee on Dec. 17 conditionally advanced two wireless telecommunications tower projects — Liberty Site 16 and the Glendale sister site — with staff stating both need variances and final federal reviews before construction.

Bob (planning staff) said Liberty Site 16 (MIN25‑000141) is a Walton County‑sponsored project being reviewed by Baker Donaldson on behalf of the county; the parcel is near the western end of Dare Trail in District 3. Bob told the committee the sheriff’s department has reported communications problems that in some cases have affected deputy safety, and that the county is moving several first sites forward to address countywide coverage gaps.

Patton Hahn of Baker Donaldson, representing City Switch and the tower applicant, told the committee the program began in 2023 after the sheriff’s department identified a significant coverage gap and that the Liberty Site 16 air‑force review returned a positive comment. “This project began in 2023... when the sheriff’s department had identified a very significant gap in its ability to communicate... and endangered its employees,” Hahn said.

County code requires a fall radius equal to the tower height; both sites seek variances from the setback tied to that radius, with applicants expected to present technical evidence to the variance board explaining modern design mitigations. Staff recommended conditional approval of both sites pending successful resubmittal, landscaping responses and variance approval. The committee voted to conditionally approve Liberty Site 16 and Glendale Site 1 to move forward subject to those conditions.

Next steps: the applicants will pursue variance approval and respond to outstanding environmental and landscaping comments; the county is awaiting any additional Air Force or joint federal reviews before final approvals.