By a 9-2 vote, the Fort Worth Board of Adjustment approved a zoning variance to increase the height of an existing Haslet cellular communications tower.
One fewer ‘yes’ vote would have led to disapproval since board of adjustment regulations require nine affirmative votes for passage of variance and special exception requests.
Tower discussion
Janice Manley from SBA Communications told the board at their Aug. 19 meeting that her firm wants to increase the height of a currently allowed 95-foot tower located at 197 Barnwood Drive to accommodate an additional cellular service provider.
The tower is situated on unimproved land bounded by the BNSF Railway Alliance Intermodal Facility to the east and John Day Road to the west.
This area around the tower is zoned “light industrial,” which specifies a 75-foot limit on tower height. However, in 2020, the adjustment board granted a variance to allow a 95-foot height.
“Right now, we have AT&T and T-Mobile on the tower, and Verizon is looking to add their antennas so that they can serve their customers in the area,” Manley said.
Working with Verizon’s engineers, SBA Communications determined the tower height must be increased to 106 feet to accommodate the new antennas.
In response to a question from board member Kay Duffy about proximity to Alliance Airport, Manley said the Federal Aviation Administration has cleared the requested height.
During board deliberations, a number of members spoke in favor of granting the height variance, citing the industrial nature of the property, and that using the existing tower would avoid the need for Verizon to construct another tower nearby.
Board member Michael Johnston questioned if the new antennas could be located below the AT&T and T-Mobile antennas, to allow the tower to remain at its current height. Manley said Verizon studied that option, but it did not result in adequate coverage.
Appeal for zoning ordinance change
Johnston said he struggled to see a hardship that would justify a variance, but also admitted to feeling constrained by the zoning regulations.
“If we were the city council, I’d be voting for this thing instantly, but we don’t have the power to change the ordinance except when there is a finding of a unique circumstance on the property not caused by the landowner that creates a hardship,” Johnston said.
“Mr. Johnston is exactly right,” Duffy said. “The way the zoning ordinance is written, there’s no hardship here, (but) we would be hard pressed to say how this is going to hurt any individuals, and a lot more people would be hurt by not having cell phone service,” she offered.
“I think we need to appeal to the zoning board to get this ordinance changed as soon as possible, so we don’t have this question again,” Duffy said. Johnston registered his agreement.
The vote
With one member remaining in the roll call vote, the board’s vote on the height request stood at 8 votes in favor and 2 against, cast by Johnston and alternate board member Mateson Gutierrez. After a thoughtful pause, Sandra King cast a “yes” vote to cement the approval.
Other board business
In other commercial cases, the board unanimously approved a variance for a 45-foot tall freeway sign for a new QuikTrip at Oak Grove Road and Interstate 20 in south Fort Worth.
The board unanimously approved a special exception for a monument sign with electronically changeable prices for a new Murphy USA gas station on McPherson Road in southwest Fort Worth.
Nine residential cases were also discussed. Details on all cases can be found in the meeting agenda.
Fort Worth Board of Adjustment
Documenter: Doug Wilhelm
Date: Aug. 19, 2026
Learn more about this meeting by clicking here. For the agenda, click here.
Doug Wilhelm is a member of the Fort Worth Report Documenters crew. If you believe anything in these notes is inaccurate, please email us at news@ortworthreport.org with “Correction Request” in the subject line.
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