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Camp Verde reduces wireless setbacks from 5,000 to 450 feet over two dissenting votes
Summary
The Camp Verde Town Council on May 6 approved Ordinance 2026-A511 to reduce setbacks for wireless communication facilities adjacent to residential zones from 5,000 to 450 feet, passing 5-2 amid legal and public-safety questions raised by council members and a resident.
The Camp Verde Town Council voted 5-2 on May 6 to adopt Ordinance 2026-A511, reducing the required setback for wireless communication facilities adjacent to residential zones from 5,000 feet to 450 feet. Development Services Director Christian Green told the council the change is intended to increase siting options to improve local wireless coverage.
Public commenter Marv Wessel cautioned that discussions of health impacts are not permitted under the town’s public-hearing rules but said residents could reference compliance studies. "If variances are granted that reduce setbacks or otherwise allow facilities to be located closer to residential properties, this could result in wireless infrastructure being situated in closer proximity to homes," Wessel told the council, referencing Federal Communications Commission exposure standards.
Town Attorney Trish Stuhan and staff answered council questions about safety and regulatory limits and said compliance with FCC exposure standards governs health- and-safety determinations. Councilor Patricia Seybold moved to adopt the ordinance; the motion passed with Vice Mayor Wendy Escoffier and Mayor Marie Moore voting no.
Supporters on the council, including Development Services Director Christian Green, said the reduced setback responds to Camp Verde’s development patterns, where residential parcels are often adjacent to commercially or industrially zoned land that could host wireless facilities. Green said the prior 5,000-foot buffer ‘‘significantly limit[ed] where new towers can be located’’ and could impede improvements to coverage and public-safety communications.
Opponents said the change reduces the physical buffer between new wireless infrastructure and homes and flagged community concerns about proximity. The ordinance will immediately amend Planning and Zoning Ordinance Section 802.7.B.; Council directed staff to incorporate the change into town code following the vote.
The council recessed for a break at 7:20 p.m. and reconvened at 7:31 p.m.
