Throughout the Town of Vienna’s 4.4 square miles, and in adjacent areas of Fairfax County, a number of businesses and residents have struggled with dead zones or otherwise weak cell phone coverage, leading to increasing frustration and even the passage of state legislation.
In a work session on May 11, staff and wireless providers told Vienna Town Council members that taller antennas are needed — and potentially a new review process with less oversight from the Board of Architectural Review (BAR) — to fix the recurring issues.
Problematic areas have included Mill Street NE as well as Dominion Road NE, the Northside property yard at 600 Mill Street, and the area by Navy Federal Credit Union’s headquarters campus on Follin Lane SE.
“When it comes down to why and where we build, it’s customer need and demand matched with local jurisdiction ability to approve our applications in a timely manner,” Garrett McGuire, a lobbyist for AT&T, told council members.
Unrelated to his job at AT&T, McGuire was elected to the House of Delegates in January to represent the Franconia area in 17th district.
“We have budgets that are three- to five-year windows,” McGuire said. “[It] takes 12 to 18 months on average, in a best case scenario, to build a tower, get through zoning, get through permitting, get the fiber run out to the site, get electricity hooked up to it. We have been struggling in the town to get those quick approvals.”
McGuire said Vienna’s BAR tends to “nit-pick” applications, making it necessary to keep returning to the drawing board.
“We just can’t get through these conversations that honestly don’t make sense in the long run,” McGuire said. “I mean, we are more than happy to work with architectural review boards. We do it in the City of Alexandria and other historic areas all the time, but we never have to go through the process like this, where it’s constantly coming back year after year to the drawing board with new requirements.”
Representative of T-Mobile and Milestone Towers, a wireless tower developer, expressed similar sentiments.
Councilmember Roy Baldwin, who chaired the BAR from 2021 to 2023, took exception to the characterization of the process, pointing out that the board has not denied any applications in recent years.
“Just so I can get this straight, you feel you were nitpicked at a work session where you had to meet … for them to tell you what they, as representatives of the citizens of this town, felt most appropriate, and then that you were so cowed by that experience that you did not pursue your application,” Baldwin said. “Is that what you want what this group to understand about AT&T?”
“I never said that,” McGuire replied. “I said we went back after that October meeting, and have tried to redraw, redesign the application to meet the recommendations that were given to us in the work session. We are trying to work with your town to give you what you want. That is the issue that is taking so long.”
In a presentation, town staff noted that the council could consider other options in addition to reviewing the BAR’s role in approving cell service projects. The council could amend the code to allow administrative review for installations under 50 feet, change height limits at various locations, or make additional town-owned land available to carriers.
A proposed project at Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic Church — located at 8601 Wolftrap Road just outside the town limits — should help resolve some issues, said Matt Forkas, a project manager at Milestone Towers.
Town attorney Steven Briglia noted that the Federal Communications Commission requires rapid review and, in most cases, approval of carriers’ proposals.
While the town retains zoning authority, the Telecommunications Act of 1996 mandates that localities “make available sites or not preclude the rollout of telecommunications, specifically cellular facilities,” Briglia said. There is no requirement that wireless providers give coverage to everyone, he added.
Additionally, earlier this spring, the General Assembly passed and Gov. Abgail Spanberger has signed HB 277, sponsored by Del. Holly Siebold, whose district includes Vienna. The bill limits localities’ ability to reject applications from mobile providers, particularly for projects modifying an existing facility or one within 30 feet of a previously approved installation.
Vienna has the lowest maximum heights allowed among local jurisdictions, Director of Planning and Zoning David Levy noted, since it has “historically interpreted that you can do nine feet or so higher on buildings that already exist.”
That means that on Maple Avenue, where the highest building is 35 feet, the limit would be 44 feet. In Corporate Park, where the highest building is 45 feet, towers can go up to 54 feet.
Councilmember Doug Francis said that time was of the essence in implementing a solution.
“The reason AT&T hasn’t sued us is because we’re just too small, so they’ve just kind of blown us off,” he said, adding that Vienna did not need to reinvent the wheel.
“What we need to do is look at, here’s design standards from the city of Napa in California. Here’s one city ordinance, City of Charlottesville, Virginia. We can copy that” when providing general guidance on height, color, and silhouette, Francis suggested.
Levy said that he would return to the council at a meeting in June or July with options.
“We’ll try to do it fast,” he said.
