New Braunfels City Council unanimously rejected a rezoning and Special Use Permit request on first reading for construction of a 135-foot-tall telecommunications tower at 514 S. Castell Ave. on Jan. 27.

How we got here

The city's planning and zoning commission recommended denial of the request, but city staff recommended approval of the request with two specific conditions—one of which was for the proposed landscaping to be consistent with the city's landscaping ordinance. The second condition was related to sidewalks to ensure consistency with the South Castell Visioning Plan, Christopher Looney, director of planning and development services said.

Zooming in

The applicant is a telecommunications company named Crown Castle. Patton Hahn, a representative for Crown Castle from the law firm Baker Donelson, said Crown Castle sought approval to build a new tower because the city had canceled and terminated its lease on the city hall parking lot site—effective Dec. 31, 2025.

"AT&T needs a replacement site in order to maintain cellular coverage in this area," Hahn said.

Verizon Wireless—the public carrier for the city and its police department—is also committed to the site and improving its coverage in downtown New Braunfels. If AT&T and Crown cannot find a new site, there will be significant loss in quality coverage and available capacity, Hahn said.

What they're saying

Vincent Huebinger of Vincent Gerard & Associates—Crown's consultant—said when they first got the site that they notified over 30 or 40 people within 200 feet of the property.

However, some property owners—like Mayor Neil Linnartz and resident Frank Witting with Witting Insurance Agency—said that they were not notified.

"I own a commercial property [in the proposed area], and I was not contacted," Linnartz said.

Resident Jill Bateman said "under no circumstances" should the city not have a tower but questioned whether the location was appropriate.

"It just seems glaringly obvious that there are other locations—even within the city's own opportunity of coming through the recycling center as it's vacated, or Union Pacific's yard," Bateman said.

Going forward

Crown Castle will need to find an alternative site or revise its plans, Looney said.