Federal Judge Rejects Nextel’s Motion to Build 130’ Tower Outside Pittsburgh

A Federal judge in Pennsylvania has rejected Nextel Communications’ lawsuit to build a 130-foot tower in Ross Township, PA. At the time the judge granted the Ross Township Zoning Board’s motion to uphold its decision to reject the company’s application for a special use exception permit to build the tower,

According to court records obtained by poconorecord.com, the decision to reject Nextel/Sprint’s motion came after a protracted battle and lawsuit filed in 2014 by the company to overturn the board’s decision to reject the company’s special exception permit to build the tower. Nextel needs the permit before it can build the tower in Ross Township, a suburb six miles north of Pittsburgh. Nextel proposed to erect the monopole tower with three Sprint communication antennas, an equipment shelter, fencing, parking, an access drive and various equipment on leased property. Nextel said it s goal was to provide service to under-served areas in the county.

Poconorecord.com reported the zoning board argued Nextel failed to provide sufficient evidence to show the area in question had inadequate cell service through the provider. The suit was filed under the Federal Telecommunications Act of 1996, which gives special consideration to cellular providers in zoning decisions when there is a question of coverage in the community.

The news site notes that Nextel may have presented the evidence that most-hurt its argument – the results of two company conducted “coverage” tests that it presented to the zoning board during the application process. One was a radio frequency analysis that the company said, through computer modeling, showed gaps in coverage. The other was an empirical analysis by a team of drive testers who actually went out on the road to test the user experience. The zoning board concluded the empirical data contradicted radio frequency analyses in several areas. The judge said the carrier failed to demonstrate a significant coverage gap existed. 
Board attorney Jim Fareri said Nextel could appeal to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, or it could continue its state appeal in Monroe County Court of Common Pleas.