Cumulus Broadcasting has received Hermitage Zoning Hearing Board's approval to build a new radio transmission tower on the same property its current tower stands.

The board's nod, given Monday, is only one of many the parent company of WPIC 790-AM needs to obtain before it can build the tower, which will send out the signals for WPIC and be the backup tower for WYFM 102.9 FM.

Wes Boyd, director of engineering for Cumulus, said the current tower, due to lack of maintenance and age -- it was built in 1949 -- needs to be repaired or replaced. It will be cheaper to replace the tower than repair it, he said.

The company wants to build the new tower about 350 feet south of the current tower and the corner of Pine Hollow Boulevard and Mercer Avenue. It will be 550 feet tall, the same height as the current one.

Most of the property, which is in a general residential zoning district, is wooded and state and federal officials would like to keep it that way. It also is crossed by many utility lines. The tower and a building for transmission equipment would be built off Mercer Avenue, across the street from the office of District Justice Henry J. Russo.