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Lunenburg County adopts new wireless telecommunications ordinance; narrows enterprise zone incentive
Summary
The board approved a new Wireless Telecommunications Facilities Ordinance that adds recertification and build-time requirements for towers and voted to remove the local waiver of town business-license fees and relax the job-creation threshold for enterprise-zone local incentives.
The Lunenburg County Board of Supervisors on Sept. 14 unanimously approved a new Wireless Telecommunications Facilities Ordinance that establishes a single conditional-use permitting process, a two-year build requirement following CUP approval, and a five-year recertification requirement for existing tower permits.
County Attorney Frank Rennie told the board the ordinance was revised after Planning Commission review to reflect state law limits and to provide the county a right of first refusal to place county communications equipment on newly constructed towers. Rennie also said the permitting process will resemble the county's solar conditional-use permit process and that a tower permit can be revoked if the permitted structure is not in place within the two-year window.
Taylor King, Director of Community Development, separately presented a proposed amendment to the Lunenburg-Kenbridge-Victoria Enterprise Zone and the Lunenburg County Enterprise Zone to remove the local incentive that waived business license fees in the towns and to change the local eligibility job threshold from twenty-five full-time positions to a lower requirement: five full-time or ten combined full- and part-time positions for new businesses.
Both measures were deliberated during a public hearing and approved by unanimous votes. The board recorded motions and seconders in the minutes and did not register individual nay or abstention votes. The county will now use the ordinance language to guide Conditional Use Permit applications for wireless facilities, including administrative-review criteria for smaller projects, co-location preferences, setback and buffering standards, and procedures for balloon tests and community meetings.
The enterprise zone amendment changes the local incentive package but does not itself alter state enterprise zone rules; local eligibility and the removal of the license-fee waiver apply to the county’s locally administered incentive package and will take effect as performed by county administrative procedures.
The County Attorney will coordinate implementation and the Zoning Administrator will oversee application, public-notice and recertification timelines under the new ordinance.
