Four of Five Lawsuits Say Municipalities Have a Voice Regarding Small Cells

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North Ridgeville, OH and surrounding cities are putting together regulations on small cell towers, as of August 1, when House Bill 478 goes into effect. Under Ohio Senate Bill 331, effective since December 2016, carriers could place small cells on utility poles with little say-so from municipalities. But cities challenged the bill and a compromise was reached that led to the passage of HB 478, reported The Chronicle.

HB 478 allows municipalities to place some regulations on carriers, including height restrictions, aesthetic design parameters, application fees of up to $250 and up to a $200-per-year “rent” for use of city-owned poles, plus where modules can be located. Additionally, considerations for historic districts and neighborhoods with underground utilities will be taken into account. However, the bill also places stipulations on cities, including a 90-day time limit on application review and whether each application will have to go through commissions or committees.

According to Attorney Bill Hanna, who worked on all five lawsuits challenging the original Senate Bill, “The purpose of it was to set up statewide rules for deploying small cell wireless antennas and poles in municipals’ rights-of-way…but [it] was very regulatory over municipalities and it curtailed municipal authority to an extent we thought was not appropriate or lawful and, in addition, the law contained a number of [other matters].”

Rulings in four out of the five lawsuits were in favor of the municipalities, so the state began negotiations with municipalities and wireless carriers to create HB 478.

“People still aren’t in love with it,” Hanna said, “but it’s a lot better than 331, and there’s a lot more protections for municipalities.”

July 25, 2018

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