A 144-foot wireless tower would rise at the site of the future Panther Creek Sports Complex under a request the Planning & Zoning Commission takes up at a public hearing on Tuesday, Oct. 27.
The city owns the land, and the tower is the product of a wireless-infrastructure request for proposals that the City Council authorized in June 2025 for select city sites, according to the staff report. The firm picked for the sports complex site needs a specific use permit, which city zoning requires for any commercial antenna on city property.
Where it would go
The permit covers about 0.06 acre on the south side of Panther Creek Parkway, roughly 235 feet east of the BNSF Railroad tracks. The tower would sit about 125 feet south of the screening wall around an Atmos Energy measuring station and about 300 feet from the parkway's right-of-way.
Staff says the spot was worked out with the Parks & Recreation Department so it fits the sports complex's future layout.
The structure itself would be 140 feet tall, plus a 4-foot lightning rod. It is described as a non-stealth tower, meaning it is not disguised, and it would be galvanized steel-gray. Ground equipment would be hidden behind an 8-foot masonry wall built to match the one around the Atmos station, and a turnaround would let service vehicles maneuver.
Access would come off Panther Creek Parkway through an easement.
City rules normally require a tower to sit at least its own height from every property line. Staff supports a shorter distance on the north side because no one lives there, noting that the closest land planned for single-family homes is about 420 feet to the north, across the utility station and a major road.
The report adds that while newer towers are built to collapse onto themselves, that may not hold in high winds or severe storms.
Staff mailed hearing notices to nearby owners and had received no responses as of the report. It recommends approval. The commission's recommendation would then go to the City Council, which can attach conditions to a specific use permit.
