Planning panel recommends new tier to allow taller monopoles to address Brentwood coverage gaps

The Brentwood Planning Commission on Feb. 2 voted to recommend that the City Commission amend Chapter 78 to add a new Tier 4 for personal wireless service facilities, a change staff says is aimed at closing wireless coverage gaps in the eastern part of the city.

City presenter (Todd, Speaker 7) told commissioners the existing PWSF ordinance, adopted in 2001, uses a three‑tier approach and has made it difficult for the wireless industry to invest in Brentwood. "We have significant wireless gaps in our coverage, specifically in the East, East Of Wilson Pike area of the city," Todd said, noting those gaps can affect emergency calls, business activity and routine resident uses. Under the proposed change, the city would retain Tiers 1–3 but add a Tier 4 to allow new monopole structures not to exceed 160 feet "subject to very defined criteria," Todd said.

The ordinance would allow taller towers only when applicants demonstrate a technical need in a propagation study, which the city would require to be reviewed by an independent third party. Todd said the city will also require towers to be designed with "pinch points" so they collapse upon themselves rather than using the current 110% fall‑zone requirement. Applicants would be required to propose concealment or camouflage measures and to design towers to accommodate co‑location by multiple providers in order to limit the total number of towers.

Speaker 7 explained site limitations: Tier 4 locations would need to be on property owned or leased by a government or quasi‑government entity (for example, utility land) or on HOA common open space. The city would require a visual impact analysis and certified notification to residents within 1,000 feet of the tower compound; Todd said those mailings and the third‑party review would be paid by the applicant.

Commissioners asked whether the change would actually make deployment easier and whether the 1,000‑foot notification is new; Todd said Tier 4 is intended to make a new tower easier to approve when a demonstrated need exists and that the notification is an additional requirement for Tier 4 proposals. Commissioners also asked how setbacks would operate if the fall zone requirement is removed; staff described typical buffers used for government‑adjacent sites (examples cited during the meeting included 50–75‑foot buffers and a 100‑foot setback in some cases, and roughly 35–40 feet from an HOA open space boundary in others), and said the planning commission would retain discretion to find a proposal too close even where minimum standards are met.

Several commissioners emphasized that approving Tier 4 does not mean all towers will be built to the 160‑foot cap. Todd said the ordinance allows up to 160 feet but applicants must show the specific height needed and the city would approve the height shown in the technical analysis; "If they can achieve the needed coverage with a 130 foot, that's what we'd like to see," he said.

After discussion, the commission voted to recommend approval to the City Commission. Chair (Speaker 1) called for a motion to forward a recommendation; the motion was seconded and "it passes," according to the record. The presenter said the public hearing before the City Commission is scheduled for Feb. 9, with second and final reading on Feb. 23.

What the measure would do and next steps: The recommendation does not adopt the ordinance city‑wide; it forwards the proposed amendment to the City Commission for a public hearing and potential adoption. If the city commission moves forward, applicants would still need to submit the required studies, design proposals and neighborhood notifications when pursuing a Tier 4 site.

Speakers quoted in this article are those who appear in the meeting record and are identified in the commission's transcript; direct quotations are taken from the presenter and commissioners' remarks at the Feb. 2 meeting. The commission's recommendation now moves to the City Commission for public hearings and final action.