New T-Mobile cell tower proposed near Grovetown, but will its height be an eyesore?
Columbia County is postponing a decision whether to permit construction of a new T-Mobile cell tower in Grovetown until test results help verify that the project won't create an eyesore for surrounding neighborhoods.
VB BTS, a limited-liability company branch headquartered in Boca Raton, Fla., petitioned the county last year to erect a 199-foot cell tower on less than one acre of a county-owned, 17-acre tract at 5109 High Meadows Dr.
The site is less than a half-mile from Grovetown High School, the Columbia County Water Utility and the Columbia County Fairgrounds. Rural home lots in the Misty Woods neighborhood wrap around the 17 acres.
The land is zoned residential agricultural, and the project requires a variance because of the tower's height and type. T-Mobile is expected to be the topmost and primary tower occupant, with additional pads for future tenants.
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The developer said the primary purpose of the tower is "to improve in-vehicle coverage along William Few Parkway and Columbia Road. Coverage within buildings in the surrounding area will also be improved according to the documentation," the county said in its staff report about the proposal.
The developer originally scheduled a "balloon test" for the tower site in December. In a balloon test, a large, brightly colored balloon is floated to the proposed height of a tower. If bystanders at a distance can't see the balloon, odds are they can't see a potentially unsightly cell tower, either.
Inclement weather prevented the December test from being conducted, so the developer has successfully asked the county to revisit the tower proposal at its Feb. 15, by which time another balloon test is expected to be completed.
This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Balloon test to confirm height of proposed Grovetown cell tower
