Rockingham County planning board approves wireless‑tower special use, backs two rezoning requests

The Rockingham County Planning Board on Feb. 9 approved a special‑use permit for a 300‑foot wireless communications tower on property at 413 NC Highway 87 and voted to recommend approval of two separate rezoning requests.

Staff said the tower application meets Unified Development Ordinance requirements for the RA district provided the applicant satisfies technical conditions: geotechnical and foundation design documents must be submitted and pass third‑party engineering review by Kimley‑Horn before full approval. Staff told the board those engineering files—foundation design and geotechnical report—were being deferred until post‑approval and that approval should be conditioned on successful review.

Clark Davidson, speaking for the applicant, said the site is set back from Highway 87 and that propagation maps in the application show improved coverage along the corridor and in adjacent residential areas. Davidson described the siting as intentionally positioned behind vegetation and said landscaping would be added to help screen the lease area. He confirmed the tower will include space for co‑location of other carriers. He also acknowledged the proposed tower will use guy wires because it is taller than many recently approved self‑support designs.

Neighbors raised access and easement concerns during the public‑comment portion. Freeman Mark and a nearby property owner asked whether construction of an access road associated with the tower would create new legal claims or land‑locking issues; Davidson and a certified appraiser who had prepared an impact study, Michael Berkowitz, said prescriptive easements and customary access arrangements can be preserved. Berkowitz recommended language in the board order that the tower not interfere with existing prescriptive easements. The board agreed to place a condition in the approval preserving the prescriptive easement and recording language for the board order.

After discussion about the deferred engineering submittals and the third‑party review requirement, the board moved and approved the special‑use permit with conditions. The board’s order will record the requirement that staff and the third‑party engineer approve the foundation and geotechnical documents before final building permits are issued.

The board also took two zoning actions. It recommended approval of a conditional rezoning for the Eagle Landing subdivision at 330 Gold Hill Road to reduce side setbacks from 10 feet to 7.5 feet, which staff said would allow the developer to add roughly 18 lots (increasing the preliminary lot count from 312 to about 330). Staff framed the request as consistent with the county’s G3 corridor designation and land‑use plan targeting higher intensity in that area; the board voted to recommend the change.

Separately, the board recommended approval of a conventional rezoning for a Goins property east of Victory Hill Church Road from Residential‑Agricultural to Light Industrial. Applicant Steve Goins told the board he operates a small equipment and service shop and sought the rezoning to regularize an existing accessory use and a small addition; neighbors urged strict buffering if heavier industrial activity returns. The transcript records a recorded recommendation vote of five in favor and one opposed.

What’s next: the special‑use permit is approved at the board level with conditions; the rezoning recommendations move to the Board of Commissioners for final action at a later meeting. The board said staff will prepare the board order with the agreed easement language and the conditional items for final approval.