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The Buckingham County Board of Supervisors has unanimously approved a special use permit (SUP) for a 199-foot cell tower expected to bring expanded cell phone coverage to the western portion of the county.

The vote followed a public hearing held at the Tuesday, Oct. 12, Board meeting where Richmond attorney Mark Kronenthal, representing Cellco, gave a presentation to the Board on details of the proposed structure.

The monopole telecommunications tower is slated to be built on a 300-acre parcel of land located north of Howardsville Road and west of Logan Road in the James River Magisterial District. The landowner for the parcel is listed as Monmouth Farm LLC, and the applicant, Euan Fuller, is an authorized partnership agent of Cellco, doing business as Verizon Wireless.

The monopole is intended to accommodate antennas for Verizon, but up to five additional carriers could also utilize the tower.

The current zoning ordinance does not permit a communications tower in an agricultural (A-1) district on which the tower is anticipated to be located. CityScape, the county’s Wireless Telecommunications Expert, recommended the board approve the tower for the proposed location, as did the Buckingham County Planning Commission.

After hearing from Kronenthal, District 5 Supervisor Harry Bryant made a motion to approve the SUP for the cell tower. The motion was seconded by District 7 Supervisor Danny Allen and passed unanimously with the exception of District 2 Supervisor Donnie Bryan who was absent from the meeting and therefore abstained.