Communications towers will line Fayette's state highways every mile or so, but will rarely be seen anywhere else if a proposed new stand-alone ordinance governing the towers is adopted.

The county Planning and Zoning Commission will go over proposed rules for height, design and location of towers one more time at its Nov. 19 workshop before sending the ordinance on to the county Board of Commissioners in December.

"I really believe that we are very close to having a very viable plan to present to the commissioners," said Fred Bowen, a member of the county Planning Commission, after discussing the proposed plan during the group's workshop last week.

Central to the goals of the ordinance are rules designed to encourage tower construction along Ga. highways 85, 92, 74, 314, 279, 85 Connector and 54, plus the future east-west arterial highway, Bernhard Road.

If the plan is adopted, towers up to 250 feet in height can be approved without public hearings if they are within 500 feet of the chosen roadways, whereas public hearings will be required for tower requests anywhere else.

Towers up to 180 feet also can be approved administratively, without hearings, if they are on land zoned A-R (agricultural-residential).

Also, new towers outside the preferred highway zones must be two miles apart. The minimum distance between towers on the state highways will be only one mile.

"We're trying to make this thing fair for everybody," said commission member Al Gilbert as the planning commissioners pored over the proposal last week. The group has had two lengthy public hearings, with representatives of the seven cellular phone companies and tower construction companies present, in attempts to develop a master plan for towers in Fayette.

Federal law requires that the cell phone companies provide complete coverage throughout the United States, but requests for towers have drawn severe public opposition in recent months.

The county Board of Commissioners recently asked the Planning Commission to develop a master plan that allows the phone companies to serve their customers without having too much negative impact on Fayette's residential areas.

Residents who have addressed the hearings have unanimously called for rules that direct the towers to the major highways. "They've made it clear that they had rather see the towers along the major thoroughfares," said Bob Harbison, chairman of the Planning Commission.

The Planning Commission will discuss the master plan at its next workshop Nov. 19, and members hope to be ready to vote on the document at their Dec. 3 meeting.