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September 25, 2015
Siting Council Rules in Favor of Local Jurisdiction in Cell Tower Dispute

In June 2015, the Connecticut Siting Council rejected a proposal to build a 180-foot lattice cell/training tower in Farmington, Connecticut. The Applicant, Tower Holdings LLC, originally proposed building the tower to be used solely for training. But the company later partnered with AT&T to add an antenna array to the tower, saying there was a gap in coverage. That change sent the proposal to the Connecticut Siting Council, which has jurisdiction over the siting of commercial cellular providers. Duncan Forsyth and Kenneth Slater argued on behalf of the Town of Farmington that the Siting Council lacks the jurisdiction to cite and approve training towers and their associated operations, as these are matters for the local planning and zoning commission. The Council agreed, and ruled in a 5-1 decision that the training aspect of the proposed tower does not meet any defined public safety benefit under the Council’s jurisdiction, and is a matter for the local regulatory process. This was a significant victory on behalf of the Town, which felt strongly that the Applicant should go through the local regulatory process for the siting of its training tower.

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Kenneth R. Slater, Jr.
Duncan J. Forsyth
Environmental & Land Use