Warren County commissioners on Jan. 6 continued a site-plan hearing on a proposed telecommunications tower at 1105 Nixon Camp Road in Turtle Creek Township to Feb. 10, 2026, after residents raised concerns about community impacts and commissioners requested written technical justification and proof that existing towers cannot accommodate the carrier's needs.

Raymond Draft of the Warren County Building and Zoning department outlined the application (case No. 101-2025), saying the property is 11.46 acres in an RU (rural residential) zone and the applicant proposes a lattice tower designed to support up to four carriers. "The proposal, it's for a 250 foot tower," Draft said, adding the design includes a four-foot lightning arrestor that has been shown as part of the applicant's materials. Draft described required setbacks, a 100-by-100 fenced lease area and landscaping buffers, and said the applicant had obtained an easement to cover a portion of the tower's fall zone.

Royce Lau, the applicant's real-estate consultant, told the board the request was driven by Verizon's propagation analysis and the company's determination that coverage gaps exist in the area. Lau said his team searched candidate sites, contacted nearby landowners and submitted propagation maps to justify the site's need. "Verizon got a hold of Tag Towers… and said we need a tower here because of lack of coverage," Lau said.

Several neighbors disputed the applicant's coverage claims and urged denial or further study. Timothy Michael "Mike" Kirby, who lives adjacent to the proposed site, presented a PowerPoint saying Verizon's public coverage maps show adequate service and estimating roughly $13.8 million in combined property value for the 26 homes in the immediate neighborhood. "We as neighbors are asking you as the commissioners to protect our families, protect our properties, and protect our way of life," Kirby said.

Other residents raised concerns about health, wildlife, aesthetics and property values. Zach Beach, a journeyman lineman, testified he experienced flu-like symptoms after working near towers. Charles Wiley and other neighbors said they experience reliable Verizon service near the river and questioned whether a new tower is necessary.

Commissioners and county staff focused on a specific procedural requirement in the Warren County rural zoning code: applicants must document outreach and provide written responses from nearby tower owners or other providers explaining why colocation is not feasible. Draft told the board he had received only a single certified receipt (dated Jan. 5, 2026) showing contact with one nearby tower owner; for most of the nine towers identified in the applicant's propagation study, correspondence or documented refusal was not yet in the county file.

Chair and commissioners agreed that the code requires written justification from the technical client and the applicant to demonstrate that existing structures cannot meet the carrier's objectives. The board voted to continue the hearing to allow the applicant to provide the missing documentation and more explicit engineering justification for why colocation on existing structures was not feasible. Commissioner (S2) moved to continue the hearing to Feb. 10 at 9:05 a.m.; the motion was seconded and approved by roll call.

The board described the next steps as submission of written documentation — certified mail receipts or return-receipt evidence showing outreach to nearby tower owners, and a written technical justification from the carrier or its RF engineer explaining why other towers or other local structures (including water towers or utility structures) would not meet coverage and capacity needs. The hearing will reconvene Feb. 10, 2026 at 9:05 a.m. in the commissioners' chambers.

No final decision was made on the application at the Jan. 6 hearing.