Zayo, a contractor for Verizon, received approval from the Johnson County (IN) Board of Zoning Appeals to build two of the repeater poles near Center Grove High School. Approval for three more poles is pending according to the Daily Journal. County officials have requested further documentation about the plans and are waiting for a response before the next meeting.
With no regulations currently on the books for this technology, Johnson County is considering putting height limits on these repeater poles and restricting how close they can be built to each other, said the Daily Journal.
One question county officials asked Zayo is whether the repeater nodes have to be placed on top of new poles or can instead be added on top of other utility poles in the area. Zayo’s plan is to bring about a dozen repeater poles to the Center Grove area, the Journal said.
The challenge the county faces it that it doesn’t have any regulations on how or where these poles can be constructed, Johnson County planning director David Hittle told the Daily Journal. “We don’t want to open the doors and not have any restrictions or regulations,” he said.
While the highway department can’t deny a right-of-way permit for a utility, such as communication service providers, land use rules still must be followed, which gives the county some ability to regulate the poles, Hittle said.
The proposed rules would set a maximum height for repeater poles and prevent them from being built too close to each other. The poles would be capped at a height of about 45 feet and would need to be at least a half-mile apart. The Johnson County Board of Commissioners will consider the new rules at its November 14 meeting said the Daily Journal.
October 25, 2016
Reader Interactions