AT&T to Argue on Appeal That Judge Erred in Granting Summary Judgment for Ore. County

A U.S. magistrate judge, in granting summary judgment for Lane County, Oregon, wrongly found that AT&T was obligated to appeal the county’s denial of its cell tower application to the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeal (LUBA), said AT&T’s mediation questionnaire Wednesday (docket 24-855) in its 9th U.S. Circuit Appeals Court appeal to get the summary judgment order overturned (see 2402190001). The judge thus ruled that the carrier had failed to exhaust its administrative remedies and granted summary judgment for Lane County “without having to reach the merits of either party’s summary judgment arguments” about the county’s decision in denying the cell tower, said the questionnaire. AT&T will argue on appeal that the judge’s decision “misunderstands LUBA’s relationship to local government bodies in Oregon” and ignores the “plain language” of the Telecommunications Act, it said. The decision also ignores the law regarding what constitutes a final action under the TCA “for purposes of an appellant’s right to proceed to federal court, based on the denial of a wireless siting permit application,” it said.