Raintree Forest Made the Mayor's Cell Service List. The Fix Still Needs a Site.

In its Fall 2026 City Update, Brentwood named four East Brentwood neighborhoods where it is still worried about cell coverage, and Raintree Forest is one of them. The city has spent 2026 rewriting its tower rules and signing tower leases, but the permanent fix for this corner of town does not have a location yet. Under the new rules, that location most likely has to come from a neighborhood association or a government landowner.

Here is what happened. The antennas Verizon and AT&T have used near Governors Club for about two decades are on a water tank that is being replaced, and the new tank will not carry antennas. A temporary pole has been approved to bridge the gap. Whatever comes after it depends on finding a site the rules allow and the neighbors will accept.

The Antennas Were Always on Borrowed Ground

At the September 8 Brentwood Planning Commission meeting, the carriers' representative said Verizon and AT&T had been serving the area from antennas on a Nolensville College Grove Utility District water tank since 2005. City staff described the tank as holding 500,000 gallons. The utility plans to replace it with a concrete tank of about 2 million gallons at the same height.

Staff told the commission the utility will no longer allow antennas on its water tanks. According to the applicant, the utility sent the Governors Club HOA a letter on July 17 saying the antennas had to come down. That letter, the representative said, is when the carriers "decided we needed to jump into action."

A 500,000-gallon tank becoming a 2-million-gallon tank is ordinary utility growth. For phones in East Brentwood, the change is bigger. A site that held two carriers for about 20 years stops being a cell site at all.

Ninety Feet and Eighteen Months

The stopgap is a temporary monopole in Governors Club Common Open Space Area 61. Horne Brothers Communications applied for it on Verizon's behalf. Staff described it as 90 feet, six inches tall and built to hold both Verizon and AT&T.

The height comes from how little room there is. In the meeting video, the carriers' representative said the carriers now use separate, smaller poles. A taller pole lets both share one structure, and the lease covers only a 20-foot-by-20-foot square. The pole sits on a concrete base, not a footing set in the ground.

The approval comes with limits. The tower is allowed for 18 months from the date its building permit is issued. Any extension has to go back to the Planning Commission, in increments of six months or less. Staff also said the temporary tower will be removed once a permanent installation is proposed and approved.

The pole sits in HOA common open space, so it also needed City Commission approval. That came on September 14 as Resolution 2026-82, passed on the consent agenda. At the same meeting, a commissioner explained that the temporary tower was needed because the water tank was being replaced and the new tank could not carry a tower.

Staff were direct about the next step. The carriers "have not found a new location" and "have not designed a new tower." The temporary pole keeps the current service running until they do.

Why the Permanent Site Probably Comes From a Neighborhood

The rules that will decide the permanent site were written this year. The Williamson Herald reported that the City Commission unanimously approved the wireless ordinance on final reading at its February 23 meeting. Under the revised code, sites are limited to property owned or leased by residential associations or by government and quasi-government entities.

The city's April 15 announcement and the Fall City Update list the other requirements. Every tower must:

• Show a clear technical need, subject to city review and approval
• Be no taller than reliable service requires, with a cap of 160 feet
• Be designed for multiple carriers, so fewer towers are needed in the same area
• Use a monopole design with engineered break points, blending in as much as possible
• Come with mailed notice to every property owner within 1,000 feet of the proposed site

Put that list next to the water tank news. The utility district has taken its tanks off the table. The code allows towers only on association or government land. So in the four neighborhoods the city named, the likeliest permanent home is land held by a neighborhood association or a public body. The mayor's wording in the Fall 2026 City Update fits that reading:

"We remain concerned about East Brentwood near Governors Club, Twelve Oaks, Raintree Forest, and Raintree Reserve. We are encouraging the cell carriers and neighborhoods in that area to collaborate on a location for a permanent site so that cell service is not interrupted and is eventually improved."

In the same issue, City Manager Jason Gage said that for years parts of the city, "pretty significant, large areas," had no wireless service or very poor service. He also wrote that weak coverage can affect emergency access to public safety, not just convenience.

The Leases the City Has Signed So Far

The city has moved quickly on its own property. Even so, the mayor's concern list was published after both city leases were signed.

WKRN reported that the Police Headquarters lease covers 1,760 square feet for five years, with four optional five-year extensions, and would end if the Planning Commission denied the tower. That risk passed at the October 5 meeting, according to the meeting video. In April, NewsChannel 5 reported that Mayor Nelson Andrews hoped that tower could be installed within the year.

The Smith Park site is designed to look like a tree, according to the city's June 24 budget announcement. It is the city lease with the most steps left, since it has not yet gone before the Planning Commission.

At the October 5 meeting, one commissioner described the tradeoff from his own street: "I don't wanna see a tower, but I want coverage." Another pointed to the ice storm, when many people could not make phone calls.

What Shows Up in Your Mailbox First

East Brentwood's next move will likely be visible before it is built. If you live near Raintree Forest, here are the steps where it would surface:

1. A mailed notice. Any proposed tower requires notice to property owners within 1,000 feet. If a permanent site is proposed near your street, that letter will probably be your first word of it.
2. A Planning Commission agenda item. The city's Planning Commission agenda page lets residents sign up for agendas by email and sends questions to City Recorder Holly Earls. Tower applications are listed by item number, the way BPC2606-012 and BPC2609-001 were this year.
3. An extension request. The temporary Governors Club pole has an 18-month window. Any request to keep it longer has to come back to the Planning Commission, which keeps the timing of a permanent site on the public record.
4. General comments. The City Update asks for comments and suggestions at [email protected].

At the September 8 meeting, city staff explained that any improvement in common open space also requires City Commission approval, which is why Governors Club's temporary pole went to a second vote. This post summarizes public city records and is general information, not legal advice, so boards and owners should confirm what applies to their property with their own attorney or the city.

Questions about how a planned tower, a utility project or any other pending change could come up when you sell or buy in East Brentwood are something our team watches and is glad to talk through. Reach out to Asadoorian Group to Schedule a Consultation, and we will help you figure out which records to pull and what to ask.