Despite support from AT&T and the Fort Worth school district and a “no impact” determination by the Federal Aviation Administration, the Fort Worth Board of Adjustment rejected a revised design for a stealth communications tower at Arlington Heights High School.
The new tower is intended to replace an existing tower on the campus that has become partially blocked by a new school building built close by.
In the board’s March 18 meeting, member Michael Johnston and acting Chair James Hook sided with Alamo Heights resident Cynnamon Hall, who expressed concerns about the tower’s height and visibility from her neighborhood, as she did previously at the board’s Jan. 21 meeting.
The board voted 8-2, with Johnston and Hook opposed, sufficient to prevent the motion to approve the height. Board of adjustment rules of procedure require nine affirmative votes to approve a variance.
The applicant has 10 days to appeal the board’s decision to a state district court if they choose to do so.
At the Jan. 21 meeting, the board approved three special exceptions and one variance related to the tower’s location, appearance and screening fence approach. But the board stopped short of approving the height.
Following the January meeting, the tower’s owner, SBA 2012 TC Assets LLC — a subsidiary of SBA Communications — redesigned the structure to reduce its overall height from 130 feet to 120 feet.
Bebb Francis, a telecommunications lawyer who spoke on behalf of SBA 2012, told the board the redesign was meant to address the board’s concerns. He said the 120-foot height would limit growth space for future antennas in the concealed area of the tower.
Francis also reviewed the technical justification for replacing an existing 87-foot tower in the same location, and summarized the supportive positions of AT&T, Fort Worth ISD and the FAA.
AT&T and the Fort Worth ISD had submitted letters of support at the January meeting, and they updated those for the March 18 meeting.
Hall, the resident, told the board that her concerns were unabated by the redesigned tower.
“I was hopeful that the continuance would cause a significant change,” Johnston said during the board’s deliberation. “I acknowledge that there’s 10 feet, but when you look at a requirement of 50 feet, and we have now 120 instead of 130 — to me, that’s not significant.”
Board member Jim Whitton recused himself from the case, as he did in January when he disclosed that the applicant was a client of his.
Fort Worth Board of Adjustment
Documenter name: Doug Wilhelm
Date: March 18, 2026
To read more about this meeting, click here.
Other board business
The board approved special exceptions for a monument sign and a freeway sign with electronic display of fuel prices for a QuikTrip under construction at 1081 Oak Grove Road, near Interstate 20 and Interstate 35W.
QuikTrip’s designation of the site as one of its “travel centers” indicates this location will provide fuel to passenger cars and commercial trucks. It is expected to be in operation in the fourth quarter this year.
The board also approved variances to landscaping requirements for two new speculative industrial buildings to be constructed at 2401 Eagle Parkway by Trammell Crow Co. as Phase IV of their 35 Eagle development near Alliance Airport, which currently includes 10 other buildings.
The new buildings will be approximately 508,000 square feet and 106,000 square feet, respectively.
A full listing of the commercial and residential cases considered by the board are listed in the meeting agenda.
Doug Wilhelm is a member of the Fort Worth Report Documenters crew. If you believe anything in this account is inaccurate, please email us at news@fortworthreport.org with “Correction Request” in the subject line.
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