Planning board approves 199-foot cell tower near Stoneville, allows reduced colocation requirement

The Rockingham County Planning Board on July 14 approved Special Use Permit 2026-10 for a wireless telecommunications tower near 190 Carter Dairy Road, concluding the application met the Unified Development Ordinance’s evidentiary findings and granting a waiver to reduce required carrier spaces.

Attorney Tom Johnson, representing applicant TowerComm Enterprises, told the board the tower would be 195 feet to the top of the steel and 199 feet including a four-foot lightning rod and would require a beacon because of nearby airport airspace. "The anchor tenant here will be Verizon Wireless, and there will be space for 3 additional carriers," Johnson said, adding the applicant asked to be allowed a total of four spaces rather than the five normally required by the ordinance.

Johnson said Kimley Horn, the consulting engineer, reviewed construction drawings and structural analysis and "found it to be of sound design." He described a 60-by-60-foot fenced compound with utility cabinets and a generator to be used only during power outages, and said photo simulations show the tower would appear slim in the landscape.

The board’s discussion focused on site safety (setbacks and fall zones), coverage benefits and the waiver request. Board members and staff reviewed propagation maps showing improved in-building and in-vehicle coverage between Stoneville and Eden, with Johnson saying the project would "cover that gap." Staff and the applicant estimated site construction could be complete by the end of the year; carrier activation and optimization would take additional months.

Nearby resident Diane Carter, whose property is adjacent to the site, urged the board to consider potential health and environmental impacts. "My house is roughly 900 feet from it," Carter said, and summarized studies she had read alleging health effects and impacts on wildlife and pollinators. The chair reminded speakers of the quasi-judicial hearing time limits and the record-based scope of the board’s determination.

In response, Johnson said federal and state law limit local consideration of RF emissions and noted FCC exposure standards. "Because it operates well within that, that become[s] that is not a health and safety issue this board needs to consider," he said, while also pointing to household devices and phones as other RF sources.

A board member moved to approve the request "based on the evidentiary determinations, including any additional conditions agreed upon by the planning board and the applicant during the evidentiary hearing," explicitly including the waiver limiting colocations to Verizon plus three additional carriers. The motion carried by voice vote; the chair stated this is the board’s final decision and that the case will not go to the county commission.

Why it matters: The board found the proposal met the UDO’s findings for a special-use permit and recognized the project’s intended public-safety and service benefits by filling a coverage gap. Opponents raised health and environmental concerns, but the applicant and staff emphasized regulatory limits and professional reviews already in the record.

What’s next: The approved permit includes the site design and the waiver as discussed; any outstanding administrative items (for example, the landowner’s signature on the application) were confirmed as obtainable and will be completed in the record as required.