Denying permits to North American Towers LLC and 1 Source Towers LLC without ample cause is likely to see Lakeland, FL find itself in court. As The Ledger reports, both towercos have fired back, filing lawsuits against Lakeland for its refusal to allow construction to proceed.
The overall contention is that the Telecommunications Act of 1996 was superseded by local concerns that lack the gravitas to halt construction of the cell towers. Neither location is replete with natural or historic merit and both locations would benefit from expanded connectivity.
However, some local residents argue that the land could be put to better use, or is close enough to historic structures to warrant a generous interpretation allowing the denial of permits. Inside Towers previously reported that a Lakeland public official said the “Dixieland” property has been available since 2016, and North American Towers has been the only applicant interested in the site.
In its filing challenging the placement of a 150-foot monopole on a vacant “Dixieland” lot, North American Towers states, “The citizen testimony, in its entirety, lacks sufficient factual content to support a finding that the Proposed Tower will have an undue adverse effect upon any nearby property and cannot support a denial.” The document went on to note, “What is clear from the record is that the [local zoning] Commission denied the rezoning and conditional use application, based on the generalized statements of objections from a handful of residents. However sincere the objections of the neighbors may have been, the Board must base its decision on substantial evidence, not public sentiment.”
In response, the City of Lakeland asserted, “In this case, it is clear that the neighbors are the most qualified individuals to testify regarding compatibility with the neighborhood in which they live and experience every single day. North American Towers is essentially asking this court to invalidate the concerns of the citizens who live next door to where this proposed cell tower would go.”
The second Harden Boulevard site is not contested for its mild proximity to a historic site, but instead concentrates on addressing the issue of a coverage gap. “Neither Staff nor the Planning and Zoning Board addressed 1 SOURCE’s contention that denial of 1 SOURCE’s Tower would effectively prohibit Verizon from solving a significant gap in its service,” states the second filing. The tower proposed for that location is a more modest 110-foot structure.
The City of Lakeland is expected to file a response by the end of next week.
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