147-Foot Cell Tower Proposed At Woodbridge School Aims To Improve Wireless Service

WOODBRIDGE, VA — Amid increasing demand for wireless cell phone service, a cell tower to improve service is being considered at Woodbridge's Rippon Middle School.

The proposal to add a 147-foot-tall telecommunications monopole structure at Rippon Middle School is on the Feb. 4 Prince William Board of County Supervisors agenda. Milestone Communications is applying to construct the new telecommunications tower with antennas, an equipment compound and access road on the middle school property. The proposed tower would include a two-foot lightning rod on top and be enclosed by an eight-foot-tall fence. The site would be leased from the Prince William County School Board.

Verizon would be the initial wireless service using the tower. According to a county staff report, the new cell tower is intended to improve data speeds in the coverage area as well as support telecommunications for students, faculty and others at Rippon Middle School. The applicant said Verizon has acknowledged coverage gaps in the area around Rippon Middle School and that the 147-foot height would be "the optimal height for Verizon’s antennas to effectively send and receive signals and make hand offs to other nearby wireless facilities." The county staff report notes a higher height is needed because some surrounding trees are around 100 feet tall and would block transmissions from antennas below 100 feet.

The staff reports notes there would be limited visibility of the structure from surrounding properties. The monopole is planned on the western part of the school property in an open area between a baseball field and the track facility. It would be about 337 feet from the nearest residential property. Landscaping buffers already exist between the school and residential properties on the school property's western, eastern and southern parts.

Applicant Milestone Towers entered an agreement with the Prince William County School Board in 2018 and has built cell towers at Freedom High School, Gar-Field High School, Woodbridge High School, Unity Braxton Middle School and Woodbridge Middle School. Five other towers were built by others before 2018 at Unity HS, Hylton High School, Forest Park High School, Beville Middle School and Independent Hill School.

The Planning Commission unanimously recommended the Rippon Middle School proposal in December.