The Oconee County Board of Commissioners is scheduled to decide Tuesday evening if Verizon Wireless can place a cell tower on farmland near the Eastville community over the objections of at least some residents in the area.
Three people spoke against the issuance of a special use permit for the cell tower at the Planning Commission meeting on Sept. 16. They were joined by about a dozen fellow citizens in the audience and said they expected others would have spoken out had they known about the plans for the cell tower.
They will have their chance in the public hearing on Tuesday.
The Planning Commission voted 6-4 to recommend that the BOC deny the cell tower request, with several members saying Verizon should use instead an existing tower on Rocky Branch Road 1.25 miles due west of the proposed tower.
A representative of Verizon said the existing tower would not provide the coverage needed and told the Planning Commission that Verizon had met the county’s requirements for cell towers.
The BOC meeting starts at 7 p.m. in the courthouse in Watkinsville. The hearing on the special use permit is scheduled for halfway through a relatively light agenda.
For more on this story go to Oconee County Observations.