COURTLAND
Just as it did for Sedley in November, the Southampton County Board of Supervisors on Monday approved a conditional land use permit for Verizon Wireless to build a 199-foot monopole tower near Sebrell. The telecommunications tower will be built at the intersection of Johnson’s Mill Road and Vicksville Road.

“The tower is needed to provide wireless coverage and data capacity in conjunction with the four existing tower sites to the east and two existing tower sites to the west of the subject property,” SBA Communications Corporation’s Zoning and Permits Manager Frederick A. Womble said at the Southampton County Planning Commission’s public hearing last month. “At present, there is a coverage hole between these existing sites. The proposed facility will enhance the aforementioned and existing wireless network sites and provide propagation to an area of the county that is presently underserved.”

Like the most recent tower, this site will allow room for future collocation of at least five additional wireless carriers. Also, the structure will not be required to have a light on top because it is under 200 feet tall.

There is no timetable for when construction would begin, though the conditional use permit requires that action must be taken within 12 months.

“This is the third Verizon tower in a two-year period that has been requested in the central part of the county,” Deputy Director of Community Development Beth Lewis said.

“The theory is that once they get all three conditional use permits approved in this area that they will likely go toward construction, as it is much less expensive per tower to build them as a group.”

Lewis added that, when approached, the planning commission will continue to recommend the approval of conditional use permits to put towers throughout the county.