BOSTON (Legal Newsline) – A Massachusetts city is facing a suit from a telecommunications provider over its denial of a permit to install a facility.
T-Mobile Northeast LLC filed a complaint on Dec. 28, 2017, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts against the City of Springfield, city of Springfield City Council, et al. alleging that the defendants violated the federal Communications Act.
According to the complaint, the plaintiff alleges that the defendants wrongfully denied its application for a permit to install a wireless telecommunications facility in an industrial zoning district. It alleges the denial was not supported by substantial evidence contained in a written record and the denial effectively prohibits personal wireless service in the vicinity of the proposed facility.
The plaintiff holds the defendants responsible because the defendants allegedly failed to provide substantial evidence to dispute any of the evidence submitted by T-Mobile, failed to provide T-Mobile with a written decision and failed to provide substantial evidence contained in the written record.
The plaintiff seeks an order for the defendants to issue approvals and permits necessary for the construction of the proposed facility, award costs, including attorneys' fees, and such other and further relief as the court may deem just and proper. It is represented by Adam D. Lewis and Simon J. Brighenti Jr. of O'Connell, Attmore & Morris LLC in West Springfield, Massachusetts and T. Scott Thompson and Patrick J. Curran Jr. of David Wright Tremaine LLP in Washington, D.C.
U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts case number 3:17-cv-30182-MAP