Longboat Key officials plan to review with Bradenton Beach and Manatee County representatives the possibility of building a telecommunications tower at Coquina Beach Bayside.
The specific site is the county marine rescue headquarters, which opened earlier this year.
Longboat Key officials are dealing with coverage issues and a telecommunications installation has been proposed at Longboat Island Chapel, 6200 Gulf of Mexico Drive. But the project has opposition.
Last week, the Longboat Key Zoning Board of Adjustment heard a challenge of an administrative official’s finding that development plan, special exception and site plan applications to the village were complete.
And earlier in October, during a work session involving Longboat Key and Manatee County officials, the prospect of a telecommunications installation at the marine rescue building came up.
Longboat Key Mayor Jim Brown asked whether the county still had an interest in a tower at the location — which is county-managed property in Bradenton Beach’s jurisdiction.
County assistant administrator Karen Windon answered that a telecommunications tower has been explored at the staff level, but would not be pursued “if the economics don’t work out.”
County Commissioners Carol Whitmore and John Chappie, both Island residents, suggested then that Longboat Key officials talk with officials in Bradenton Beach, where the commission adopted a new telecommunications ordinance in May.
Last week, Longboat Key town manager Dave Bullock said his to-do list includes discussions with Bradenton Beach officials and further discussions with county officials. But meetings have yet to be arranged.
Bradenton Beach commissioners adopted a new ordinance after determining that prior regulations were outdated and receiving several invitations from companies interested in expanding wireless telecommunications on the south end of the Island.
The ordinance allows for a cell tower on government property, and that could only happen after an applicant met a long list of criteria.
The 29-page document, which took about a year to draft, amends the land-development code and establishes a “uniform and comprehensive set of standards for the development and installation of telecommunications towers, antennas and related facilities.”
The measure:
• Requires a company to obtain a conditional-use permit from the city before the construction of a telecommunications facility.
• Encourages a company to share or co-locate telecommunications facilities.
• Requires stealth technology to “minimize adverse aesthetic and visual impacts” of a telecommunications facility.
• Requires from a company a detailed narrative explaining the need for a proposed facility.
• Restricts the construction of a telecommunications tower to government-owned property.
• Sets the maximum height for a tower at 120 feet.
• Prohibits lighting on a tower, except what might be required by the FAA.
• Requires that before a public hearing on any tower, the applicant must fly a 10-foot long balloon the maximum height of a proposed tower.
• Requires a “zone of visibility map” and simulated photographs of a tower be provided before a public hearing on a permit.
About two years ago, when officials discussed a tower at Coquina Bayside, representatives from several telecommunications companies expressed doubt that there would be enough customers in the coverage area to make a structure financially feasible.