Industrial Tower and Wireless Files Suit Against ZBA in Center Hill Cell Tower Denial

Opponents of the proposed cell tower on Center Hill Road won the battle, but it appears the war has just begun.

Industrial Tower and Wireless LLC has filed a suit against members of the Zoning Board of Appeals Monday, Nov. 14, after the board denied a permit to erect a 150-foot cell tower on private land abutting the Center Hill Preserve in October.

The filing cites the need for wireless coverage along 2.5 miles of State Road "from Ship Pond Road (Vallersville) to south of Ellisville, as well as along most of Center Hill Road (the 'Coverage Gap')."

In the 15-page filing, Industrial's attorney Jeff Angley wrote that "Industrial seeks relief...because the Board’s decision and applicable zoning ordinance prohibit or have the effect of prohibiting the provision of personal wireless services within a significant gap in wireless communication coverage."

Industrial claims that there was "no substantial evidence for denial" of its petition under the Telecommunications Act of 1996. "The TCA provides that '[a]ny decision by a State or local government or instrumentality thereof to deny a request to place, construct, or modify personal wireless service facilities shall be in writing and supported by substantial evidence contained in a written record'....The Board’s decision is not supported by substantial—or any—evidence in violation of this requirement, instead couching its decision in terms of unfounded conclusions.

"The Board’s denial was made based on the erroneous interpretation of the TCA that only FCC licensees may seek its protections, and was made without the existence of any evidence to support a denial under the TCA."

Industrial is requesting that the court vacate the ZBA's decision and that the board'd decision violates the TCA.