The case between T-Mobile and the City Council of Roswell, Georgia began when the carrier was denied of its application to build a 108-foot cell phone tower site in the city which is around 20 miles north of Atlanta. The carrier argued that Roswell failed to meet "in a timely manner" the federal requirements in 2010.
Though the application had been approved by Roswell's Planning and Zoning Division, T-Mobile's request was turned down on April 12, 2010 as a result of a two-hour public hearing. Twenty-six days later, the Council came up with a detailed copy of the hearing.
According to the copy, a number of Roswell council members had objected to the proposed tower which they deemed as "aesthetically incompatible" with the city's residential area. They also noted that the tower has the potential to harm property values.
A federal trial judge cited that the municipality of Roswell violated federal communications law which states that government officials would have to express a denial into writing and would need to support its decision with substantial evidence.
However, the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had overruled the judge's decision by stating that the city had complied with the federal requirement when they issued a general denial letter along with a transcript of the hearings which showed the circumstances that led to the denial.
The "in writing" requirement of the federal communications law had so far created varying rulings from other appeals courts on what local governments are supposed to do in order to meet it.
These varying rulings are somehow clarified by the Supreme Court after coming up with a decision on the case.
Authored by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the 6-3 ruling stated, "the statutory text and structure, and the concepts that Congress imported into the statutory framework, all point clearly toward the conclusion that localities must provide reasons when they deny cell phone tower siting applications."
The court further stated that local authorities should provide the said materials at least during that same period of time when they denied the cell-tower requests. Doing so would give carriers ample opportunity to decide on taking a step further by challenging the decision in court which should be done within a 30-day deadline.
General Counsel Dave Miller for T-Mobile described the ruling a "great victory."
"Transparent and fair decision-making by local governments will allow wireless service providers to improve the nation's wireless networks to meet consumers demand," said Miller.
