JOHN COFFELTEditor

A proposed Faulk and Foster Tower proposed by Verizon to be located on Noah Road hit a snag during the June 27 Coffee County Planning Commission over what some counties dub fall-zone requirements that restrict how closely a tower can be built to a property line.

The tower’s site plan called for the 250-foot tower to be located within 200 feet of the land owner, Kenneth Roberts’ property line.

Coffee County zoning ordinance specifically avoids the term “fall radius,” requiring instead that any tower have a setbacks in all directions of at least its height.

A letter submitted to the commission on behalf of Verizon notes indicates that in all likelihood were the tower to fail, it would break in to and fall closer.

“He saying that it is likely…to break apart and that it won’t fall the distance of the height,” Planning Chairman Steve Cunningham said. “It’s just very hypothetical…there’s no guarantee in that.”

Planning Secretary, Commissioner Dennis Hunt clarified that how far the tower could or was likely to fall was irrelevant.

“I make a motion that we disapprove this because it does not meet setback requirements,” he said. “The word fall radius is not in our language, so we don’t need to be using that (term).”

“The fall radius can be the full height of the tower. In the event of domestic terrorism, they will start attacking our infrastructure as soon as they can,” Hunt said.

“I can take a 36-inch pipe wrench and have the 250-foot tower on the ground in 30 minutes. A guide tower I can do it in two minutes with a zaw-zaw,” he added.

Verizon representative Victoria Farmer said her engineers did not have time to rectify on the plans the county engineer’s punch list items by the time of the meeting.

“I felt like their might be some additional request made at the meeting, and I would rather wait until then to put the comments into the drawings… so that way we’re not changing the drawings then changing them again,” she said.

Cunningham said that the application should have been withdrawn before the meeting, and an application resubmitted that met the county engineer’s requirements.

“What we try to do is get things before this committee that we can vote on and pass,” he said. “Your mistake was not getting everything lined up before coming before this committee.”

Farmer said a building permit cannot be obtained until the FAA gives final approval, which is expected in late July.

She said the back property line is the only one that does not meet the setback requirements by 50 feet.

Farmer said that shortening the tower to meet the setback requirement would likely be more feasible than moving the location.

The commission unanimously voted to disapprove the site plan. The matter will come before the committee again in August. Hunt said that the commission would have approved the plan had the requirements been met.

Other comments from County Engineer Scot St. John included requested changes to the plans to a culvert proposed under the new driveway appears to be set at an elevation that ponds water on the upstream side of the driveway. Provide a culvert capacity calculation for the 15” RCP.

Confirm that no additional culverts (cross-drains) are required under the remaining driveway up the slope.

In addition, the planned tower height did not meet setbacks, the submission lacks FAA final approval

and the environmental studies are still in process.

John has been with the Manchester Times since May 2011. John has won Tennessee Press Association awards for Best News Photo and placed in numerous other categories. John is a 1994 graduate of Tullahoma High School, a graduate of Motlow State Community College and earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from Middle Tennessee State University. He lives in Tullahoma, enjoys painting, dancing and exploring the outdoors.