Idaho County Unlawfully Denied AT&T’s Wireless Facility: Complaint
AT&T seeks declaratory and injunctive relief based on the denial by Kootenai County, Idaho, of AT&T’s June 15 application for a conditional use permit to build, operate and maintain a wireless telecommunication facility in the northwest corner of the state…
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near the Washington border, said the carrier’s complaint Wednesday (docket 2:23-cv-00124) in U.S. District Court for Idaho. The proposed facility includes a 150-foot-tall lattice tower with a five-foot lightning rod installed at the top of the tower and related ground equipment on a seven-acre undeveloped parcel of land that's zoned “agricultural suburban,” it said. The tower would be fashioned from galvanized steel, “with an anti-glare finish to best blend with the surrounding area,” it said. AT&T needs the proposed facility to close a “significant” wireless service gap in the county, and it’s “the least intrusive means” to remedy that gap, it said. The local board of county commissioners approved AT&T’s application Oct. 27, but the board granted reconsideration and reversed the approval Feb. 28, concluding that the original approval was made in error, it said. The denial “is not supported by substantial evidence,” in violation of the Communications Act’s Section 332, it said. The county “has effectively prohibited AT&T’s installation of telecommunications and personal wireless service facilities,” also in violation of the statute. The denial also came more than 150 days after AT&T’s submission of a complete application, in violation of the FCC’s shot clock, it said. AT&T seeks an expedited review of its complaint as federal law requires, it said. The county didn’t comment.