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The Sublette County Planning & Zoning (P&Z) Board accepted staff recommendations for Union Wireless’s 45-foor-high cell phone tower in Barger and voted Monday, Aug. 22, to approve Union Wireless’s zoning-variance request. The “Boulder Creek communications site” application will be on county commissioners’ Sept. 6 regular meeting agenda. The special meeting was called after county commissioners remanded Union’s application for a 65-foot cell tower back to the P&Z board. The sendback occurred in May after Union officials agreed to provide more information about the proposed tower’s site and need. County planner Bart Myers explained the application was for a 65-foot tower on a lot at 165 Sauk Trail in the Barger Subdivision, which is zoned rural residential with a structure height limit of 30 feet. “We consider a cell tower a structure,” he said, pointing out its foundation is fixed to the ground. Myers said the county can’t address the tower detracting from residents’ views because “the county has no regulations whatsoever regarding viewsheds.” “This request just boils down to two questions,” he said – if there''s a gap in Union’s wireless coverage and if this location best fills that need. The tower’s radio frequency would fall “well below” federal standards considered unhealthy, as well, he added. |
