Communications Litigation Today was a Warren News publication.

T-Mobile Sues to Reverse N.J. Borough’s Denial of Its Cell Tower Applications

T-Mobile seeks the reversal of the “unreasonable and unsupportable denial” by Wanaque, New Jersey, and its planning board of the carrier’s applications for preliminary and final site plan approval for the installation of a 120-foot monopole cell tower, said its Telecommunications Act complaint Thursday (docket 2:24-cv-07001). The tower is necessary to remedy a significant gap in reliable wireless service and is the least intrusive means to do so, said the complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for New Jersey. The denial of the applications “materially inhibits” the provision of personal wireless and telecommunications services, the complaint said. The borough and the planning board unreasonably denied the applications without substantial evidence contained in the administrative record, it said. They also failed to support their denial with a written decision within a reasonable period of time, it said. They illegally based their decisions on the environmental effects of RF emissions, which warrants injunctive relief mandating that the borough and its planning board issue all required approvals for the construction of the tower, it said. T-Mobile seeks a declaratory judgment that the denial of the applications is preempted by federal law and by FCC regulations and orders, and is unlawful under New Jersey state law, it said.