Missoula council returns Lighthouse Baptist radio tower request to committee after safety, legal and viewshed concerns

The Missoula City Council returned to committee a conditional use request for a ground-mounted wireless communication facility at 5425 Garrett Street after extended public comment, technical questioning and legal caution from the city attorney.

Zoe Walters, associate planner, told the council the proposal — submitted by Lighthouse Baptist Church — would place an 80-foot radio tower and a small equipment shelter in the southwest corner of the church property. Walters said the tower is exempt from several building-specific development standards under Title 20, that it is designed as a low-impact, low-intensity use and that the applicant’s Federal Communications Commission authorizations would allow an approximate 3.5-mile coverage radius. Staff recommended approval, subject to a condition that the building permit substantially conform to the plans submitted for conditional-use review.

Applicant Tom Lamont, pastor of Lighthouse Baptist…