Bourbonnais trustees approved a zoning variance for Faith Baptist Church to erect an 80-foot monopole on its property during Monday’s meeting.

The church, located at the corner of Armour Road and Ernie Mooney Drive on the village’s east side, is starting a radio broadcasting station, Administrator Mike Van Mill said.

The maximum height for such a pole in an area zoned for residential use limits the height to 40 feet.

The need for the height variation solely arises from the technical requirements of FM transmission, which require line-of-sight to reach listeners, according to the application filed by Faith Baptist.

“The limitation is inherent to the nature of radio broadcast equipment, not due to actions or development choices made by the church,” the application said.

“We did find that there are other taller structures in the area, like the water tower, which is at, I think, 175 feet, so it will not be out of character for the area,” Van Mill said.

According to the ordinance, the tower will be located on the far southwest corner of the 8.3 acres the church owns.

The village’s planning board recommended 6-0 for the variance at its Aug. 28 meeting.

According to the ordinance, there are no permanent structures in the area, in case the pole were to fall.

“It wouldn’t be by anyone’s house,” Trustee Craig Toepfer said.

“I also believe we told them if they had a problem with fire department signals, then they have to cut off transmitting until they figure it out.”

The Bourbonnais Fire Protection District station is located just west of the church.