A federal court in Missouri upheld Platte County’s denial of a sp...
A federal court in Missouri upheld Platte County’s denial of a special use permit for a 153-foot wireless tower Sprint wanted to build on agricultural land leased from a local church. Sprint appealed, claiming the county violated the federal…
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Telecom Act because it failed to fully detail its reasoning and lacked substantial evidence to support the denial. The U.S. District Court, St. Joseph, denied the appeal. Sprint said the county failed to tie its reasoning to specific portions of the case record. It also said the bulk of the county’s objections concerned esthetics, and esthetics don’t count as substantial evidence for denial. But the court (Case 06-6049-CV-SJ-DW) said there’s no requirement that a local decision specifically cite the portions of the record that support the denial: A sufficient explanation is one that allows a court to evaluate the record, and the county’s explanation in this case was sufficient. The court also upheld the county on the esthetics issue. It said the county’s denial of the tower as an eyesore was based on facts specific to the proposed tower design and site, and not to general opposition to wireless towers. The court said there’s no evidence of general county hostility to towers, noting Platte had approved four other Sprint towers around the county.