In its meeting Thursday evening, the Columbia County Planning Commission recommended denying a request to zone a roughly 800-square foot parcel at the intersection of Baston and Washington Roads S-1 Special.
CSX, which owns the property, and Ignite Wireless applied to rezone the currently unzoned space to make way for AT&T to add wireless equipment to the existing 105-foot monopole tower at the site, to maintain coverage in the area.
In September of 2021, Ignite Wireless inquired the county about building the tower at the right-of-way, with a plan that showed equipment to be used by both CSX and a proposed future tenant. Though Ignite acquired a permit to construct the tower, the planning department told the contractor that facilitating use for anyone other than CSX would violate the county’s building ordinance.
That October, Ignite again asked the county about collocating antennas for AT&T, and was again told that the tower could only be used by CSX. This prompted discussions between the county attorney and Baker Donelson, the representative for Ignite Wireless who submitted the application, said the staff report.
This, in turn, led to county outlining the process for the contractor to request a collocation at the tower.
Ignite Wireless would go on to reapply for a permit to build the tower in December of that year, resubmitting its plans, which had then removed documents pertaining to any proposed colocation of other telecommunications utilities. The county would approve this in March of 2022, and the contractor completed construction of the tower in January of this year.
Planning Commission Chairman Al Dempsey asked the applicants if AT&T were planning to remove equipment it has on nearby towers to put it at the Barton and Washington Road intersection.
Stan Shepherd, regional director with AT&T, affirmed this, saying that AT&T has equipment set up at an existing tower close to the subject location, which is near the end of its lease agreement. Shepherd stated that AT&T could therefore no longer afford to stay at that tower, and has already provided notice of its plans to remove its equipment.
“Like common practice, we are still not buying our own towers. We were still looking for third parties so that we could be tenants on those towers,” said Shepherd. “We are trying to make sure that we maintain coverage and capacity in that area, as that is an important area to AT&T as a carrier.”
The applicants also requested for a variance to reduce building setbacks at the site.
Though planning staff recommended approval for both, the commissioners ultimately voted against it, with Dempsey, Commissioners Michael Carraway and Marty Jackson opposed and Commissioners James Van Meter and Russell Wilder in favor.
This was the only item on Thursday evening’s agenda the Planning Commission voted down, and the only one for which the vote was not unanimous. Earlier in the meeting, the commissioners recommended approving the Magnolia Valley Plantation Property Owners Association’s request for a major planned unit development (PUD) revision at 2485 Sunflower Dr.
The subdivision had voted in 2019 to use the undeveloped one-acre space for a children’s playground for use by its residents only, but the project had not yet proceeded due to “a number of issues relating to everything from COVID to cost of materials,” said Matt Forshee, former president of the owners association, speaking on behalf of the neighborhood.
The Columbia County Board of Commissioners is scheduled to hear all the items in its meeting on Aug. 1.
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
