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Planning commission backs text change to let cell towers be allowed by special exception in public-use zones
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Summary
The commission voted to recommend a text amendment allowing telecommunications towers and antennas as a special exception in P (public use) zoning, preserving the special-exception review; site-specific approvals will go to the Board of Zoning Appeals.
North Augusta Planning Commission members voted to recommend a text amendment that would allow telecommunications towers and antennas to be permitted as a special exception in P (public use) zoning districts, while keeping site approvals subject to special-exception review by the Board of Zoning Appeals.
The change, introduced by planning staff, amends the city's use matrix (cited in staff comments as section 5.5.0.36) to resolve an inconsistency that currently permits towers as special exceptions in most zones but excludes public-use parcels. "This is a request from Verizon Wireless for a text amendment to allow telecommunication's tower and antennae as a special exception in the P public use," staff told commissioners.
Steven Sullivan, the Verizon representative, told the commission the company identified a coverage and capacity gap along the riverfront and had begun negotiating a lease agreement with the city for Riverfront Park. "We have poor coverage along the river and the waterfront. It'll fill that gap," Sullivan said, adding the proposed facility would offload traffic from existing sites and ease blocking and capacity problems.
Residents and design-minded commenters urged the commission to then use the special-exception process to require thoughtful stealth designs. "As much as I love having coverage with a cell tower, I wish there was something more attractive than the tree," said Amanda Acree, a nearby resident, offering to submit design ideas. Sullivan replied that monopines (pole designs styled as trees) are common in the Southeast and that custom stealth structures can cost four to five times more than standard poles, but that design standards would be handled through the special-exception review.
Chair Christine Crawford clarified that the text amendment would be citywide — "not for a particular location" — and that specific sites would be reviewed by the BZA. A motion to recommend the text amendment was made and approved by voice vote; commissioners did not vote on any site-specific permit at the meeting.
Next steps: The commission's recommendation will go to city council; any individual tower proposal would require a separate special-exception hearing before the Board of Zoning Appeals.
