Verizon Seeks Expedited Review for Cell Tower Approval in N.Y. Town
Plaintiffs Tarpon Towers and Verizon Wireless requested expedited review under the Telecommunications Act of their complaint against the town of Saugerties, New York, and for declaratory and injunctive relief for the immediate issuance of all approvals and permits necessary for…
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construction of a cell tower Verizon applied for in May 2019, said Thursday's amended and supplemental complaint (docket 1:22-cv-107) in U.S. District Court for Northern New York in Albany. The Thursday action involves the town’s “unlawful failure and refusal to act” on an application for a cellular tower proposed for a fire department property within the timeframe established under the Telecommunications Act. Saugerties’ refusal to act on the application violates the TCA by “failing to render a decision within a reasonable period of time” after it was filed with the town, preventing Verizon from providing service where known service gaps and network deficiencies “indisputably exist,” it alleged. The action also involves the town’s denial of plaintiffs' application to install and operate a cell phone tower on an alternative site on Industrial Drive “in an approved zoning district at a location specifically recommended” by the Saugerties Zoning Board of Appeals, it said. The Industrial Drive application was denied on “unfounded claims” that a tower there would be “more than a minimal intrusion to the community," said the document.