Loblolly seeks new, 525-foot broadcast tower in Milton
Loblolly LLC has introduced a conceptual plan to build a new broadcast transmission tower in Milton for television stations WBOC, WRDE, FOX 21 and Telemundo, owned by sister company Draper Media.
Loblolly, the property management arm of Draper Holdings, is seeking to build the tower on a vacant parcel owned by Loblolly on Sam Lucas Road. Loblolly owns 80 acres of land near the intersection of Cave Neck Road and Sam Lucas Road; 10 acres of that land has been given to the town for the building of a new wastewater treatment plant.
Johnny Hopkins, president of Loblolly, said the stations need to be more powerful with their signal to cover more area and provide a stronger emergency signal. Hopkins came before the Milton Planning and Zoning Commission Aug. 18 asking what would be needed to even consider the tower.
Town Solicitor Seth Thompson said the parcel is zoned R-3, residential with a large-parcel development designation, meaning that the property could be developed as a large-scale development with multifamily housing units. Thompson said in an R-3 district, a special permitted accessory use is for a 40-foot antenna. Hopkins said Loblolly would need a 525-foot tower to get the required signal.
Hopkins said the new tower would be a benefit to the community because it would allow the stations to broadcast to a wider area.
The plan is for WBOC to remain a full-power station, which is required to be carried by cable providers. WRDE and Telemundo will remain low-powered stations, meaning that they cover a limited service area. FOX 21 is a digital subchannel that uses WBOC’s production facilities; digital subchannels are not regulated by the Federal Communications Commission as must-carry stations. Cable carriers can elect to carry the station or not.
FCC regulations limit the number of full-power stations a media entity can own, but there is no limit on the number of low-powered stations or digital subchannels one can own.
Thompson said a concept review is a chance for a prospective applicant to come before the commission and describe what they want to do, to see if the plan is palatable before spending time and resources on engineering plans.
“We want to see if this is a worthwhile project that we can move beyond this point,” Hopkins said.
A stronger signal is the first step in what could be an expansion of Draper Media’s footprint in Milton. Hopkins said there have been talks about building a studio for Telemundo and a new studio for WBOC at the company’s facility on Chestnut Street.
“It’s tight. It looks big on television, but it's small. We could use a larger studio, and at some point we may consider that,” he said.
The commission did not have any reservations about the tower, and gave the green light for Loblolly to begin moving the project forward in earnest.
“I think it's a benefit for the town,” Chairman Richard Trask said. “It will be out of the close eyesight of most of the community.”
Thompson said the ultimate call on whether to approve the tower or not will lie with Milton Town Council because it is a conditional use. However, Loblolly will have to submit a site-plan and conditional-use application to planning and zoning for review before moving ahead to town council for the deciding vote.
