N.Y. Village’s Motion to Dismiss AT&T Cell Tower Suit Is Referred to Magistrate Judge

U.S. District Judge Joanna Seybert for Eastern New York in Central Islip referred to U.S. Magistrate Judge Lee Dunst for a report and recommendation the March 9 motion of Muttontown, New York, to dismiss AT&T’s cell tower complaint for the carrier’s failure to properly make a legally justiciable claim (see 2303130040), said Seybert’s text-only referral order Thursday (docket 2:22-cv-05524). AT&T alleges Muttontown unlawfully denied its application to build a 165-foot-high cell tower to remedy a significant coverage gap. The village contends that its planning board and its site and architectural review board had no subject matter jurisdiction over AT&T’s tower application, so there’s no justiciable controversy between the company and those entities, and AT&T’s claims against those bodies must be dismissed under Article III.