Verizon will build a 199-foot tall cell tower in Corydon
Corydon is getting a new cell phone tower.
The Henderson-Henderson County Planning Commission approved Tuesday evening the construction of a 199-foot tall tower that will be used by Verizon.
The vote was 7-3, with commissioners Heather Toews, Kevin Herron and Gary Gibson casting dissenting votes.
Nearby residents Larry Whitlock and Scott and Megan Smith objected to the tower’s location. All said it was too close to their properties and asked why it couldn’t be moved farther back in the open fields that surround both their homes and the tower’s planned location.
Whitlock’s home at 622 Seventh Street sits 321 feet from the tower’s planned location while the Smiths’ home at 644 Seventh Street rests 251 feet away—just one foot from being too close.
Scott Smith said he’s “going to look out his kitchen window every day” and stare right at the tower.
Planning Commission Executive Director Brian Bishop said current county zoning regulations call for cell towers to be 250 feet or more from the nearest residence.
The residents also voiced concerns about their property values deceasing and health risks.
Keith Brown, who is with Pike Legal Group out of Shepherdsville, said negotiations with the landowner led to the tower’s placement. He said attempts were made with other landowners but this is the one that was successful.
And because the placement exceeded setback requirements from the nearest residence, it should be approved, said Brown, who was representing Verizon and TAG Towers.
Brown also said Verizon has a service gap in Corydon and needed to put the tower in a specific search area. The 100-foot by 100-foot footprint at 636 Seventh Street falls in that search area, he said.
Brown also cited a study by a Louisville appraiser that said that cell towers don’t decrease property values and he downplayed fear of health risks.
“We think we have a compliant site,” he said.
Bishop, when asked, said planning commission staff would have to recommend approval because the cell tower meets zoning requirements. The majority of the commissioners agreed.
Dixon is moving Fence Pros to the East End
The planning commission approved a rezoning of 10-acre East End parcel on which Fence Pros owner Jonathan Dixon plans to relocate his business.
The land at 1800 Clay St., just beyond the railroad tracks heading east, will hold the company’s offices and a lay down area. But that won’t take up the entire parcel, and Dixon said there is a possibility of future development there.
He told the Hendersonian he wants to see the Fence Pros building’s footprint first before he pursues any other plans.
The zoning of the land went from city agricultural to light industrial
Dixon, a former state representative for Henderson County, will move his business from Corydon.
Preliminary plat for Braxton Park development is approved
Two sections of a preliminary plat that will bring 34 new houses to the Braxton Park subdivision were unanimously approved by the planning commission.
In section 3 of the neighborhood, 15 medium density residences are planned to be built with another 13 planned in low density zoning.
In section 4 of the neighborhood, six lots all zoned low density are planned.
The development, planned by John Hodge and his H Properties LLC, garnered some controversy in late 2023 and early last year. Existing residents of Braxton Park objected to the size of the medium density lots, saying they were not large enough to fit the size of house that neighborhood covenants require.
In a December 2023 meeting, the planning commission recommended the approval of an amendment to the residential zoning which allows what had been 80-feet-wide lots to be decreased to 60-feet-wide lots for the development within the subdivision.
Residents also said the neighborhood, which has one entrance/exit, would need another entrance/exit if the 34 residences were built.
Seven neighborhood residents filed an appeal of the recommendation and asked for a hearing with the city commission before it voted on the amendment’s approval. The city commission initially appeared ready to vote on the amendment without holding a hearing with the residents.
Additionally, Planning Commission Executive Director Brian Bishop, who lives in Braxton Park, recused himself during early meetings when the development was discussed. But when the city commission changed course and decided to hold a public hearing, Bishop—speaking as a citizen and not as the planning commission executive director—opposed the lot sizes, among other objections.
The city commission approved the zoning amendment at the end of that March 20 public hearing.
Planning Commission Assistant Director Jennifer Marks said the issue won’t come before the planning commission again, and the final plat for the development will be completed with planning commission staff.
