The FCC urged the Supreme Court to overturn...

looks at whether under the Telecom Act local governments must provide detailed written explanations when they deny carriers’ applications to build new cell towers in their jurisdictions. “The 1996 Act imposes both substantive and procedural limitations on the authority of state and local governments to regulate the placement, construction, and modification of personal wireless service facilities,” the FCC noted. The city did not offer in a timely manner a written statement of the reasons for its denial T-Mobile’s permit application, the FCC said. “Although respondent sent petitioner a letter stating that the City Council had denied petitioner’s application, that letter contained no reasons for the decision, and the meeting minutes referenced in the letter were not available to petitioner at substantially the same time.” The FCC said either “detailed minutes” or a transcript “created and approved” by the city would have been sufficient as justification for denial of the permit provided either had been made available “at substantially the same time as the decision denying” the tower application. The case makes clear that while the Telecom Act “does not require a zoning authority to provide a statement of reasons in the decision denying a request for permission to construct a cell tower, a local zoning board would be well-advised to provide such a statement,” the FCC said. The commission posted the filing (http://bit.ly/1sjvVuR) after it was filed in Supreme Court docket 13-975.