Located along the banks of the Lehigh River in Northampton County, PA, Steel City was in the news last month when several train cars derailed. Fortunately no injuries were reported. What has people talking this week, according to the Lehigh Valley News, is the Lower Saucon Township Council’s denial of a conditional use permit sought by Verizon Wireless (NYSE: VZ).
Although the applicant, Allentown SMSA Limited Partnership, doing business as Verizon Wireless, already had the approval of the landowners of the proposed site at 4235 Lewis Ave, construction could not begin without a conditional use permit issued by the township council. Verizon had planned to erect a 125-ft cell tower with a 5-foot lightning rod along with supporting equipment including antennas, storage units, and a diesel standby generator. The application described the project as “necessary to provide efficient wireless service to the public, the neighborhood, Lower Saucon Township and to individuals traveling in the area, including emergency, police, and fire users.”
The council’s 2-2 vote was recorded as a denial. Interim Township Solicitor, Steven Goudsouzian, explained that a tie vote meant that the proposal under consideration could not be passed. Council President Priscilla deLeon, the potential tie-breaking vote, opted to abstain.
“While I personally do not believe a recusal is required or necessary, to avoid any potential issue and to avoid any appearance of any potential issue, I have made the decision to recuse myself and to not vote on the conditional use hearing,” deLeon later noted in a written statement.
The Lehigh Valley News reported that deLeon resides close to the proposed cell tower site and that other council members speculated that she was gearing up to vote against it. Councilman Jason Banonis, who supported the cell tower proposal said that deLeon has a personal interest in the outcome of this decision and called her conduct and last-minute recusal, “Outrageous. I think it exposes the township to litigation. I know the township’s gonna get sued on this — and rightfully so. If you refuse to recuse yourself and willfully participate in a process that you have such conflicts on and have such bias on, the township deserves to get sued.”
“[She] had to be guilted into it,” agreed Councilman Thomas Carocci.
The remaining two councilpersons, Victoria Opthaf-Cordaro and Laura Ray, voted against the conditional use permit claiming that they needed further legal input before agreeing to approve Verizon’s cell tower request.
Verizon’s attorney, Catherine Durso, offered her opinion that Verizon has done its due diligence and is not obligated to continue searching for an alternate site. “They’re also not required to prove general nonspecific or nonobjective standards such as compatibility with the neighborhood,” she noted. Adding that denying the conditional use permit ran counter to the Telecommunications Act of 1996, she stated that, “The FCC has interpreted the act to prohibit a government action that materially limits or inhibits the ability of any competitor or potential competitor to compete in a fair and balanced legal and regulatory environment.”
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