Fentress County Search Committee Formed After Cell Tower Complaints

Fentress County Commissioners will explore potential land-use rules on cell phone towers.

County Commissioners heard concerns from two Fentress County residents this week, after a neighbor allowed a cell phone tower to be built on his property. Commissioners agreed to form a committee to look at the issue.

Fentress County Executive Jimmy Johnson said the committee will explore options, looking at how other areas handle cell towers.

“Get in depth, they would talk to your attorneys and such as this and some of your adjoining counties to see kindly, what is,” Johnson said. “It’s not that no one on the committee is against people having towers on their land or anything like that. Like I said, it’s just a search committee to see what other counties do and if anything would work here, compatible with what other counties are doing.”

Johnson said the county does not have many regulations on property. He said most people feel that if you own property, the owner can do what they want, as long as it is legal.

“It would not be zoning,” Johnson said. “It would more or less be a neighborly thing, you know if I’ve got a big field, you might want to put it in your field someplace, besides just right next to their property lines.”

Johnson said the search might not turn into any actions by the county, it’s currently just thoughts and ideas.