CROWN CASTLE NG
ATLANTIC LLC v. CITY OF NEWPORT NEWS, United States District Court, E.D.
Virginia, CIVIL NO. 4:15CV93.
In a case that has been
appealed to the 4th Circuit, the
District Court found that the City’s Franchise Agreement with Crown Castle does
not subject Crown Castle to the City’s zoning ordinance or zoning approval. The District Court held that the City’s
actions to require Crown Castle to comply with the zoning ordinance and either
remove its equipment, comply with conditions described in the City Code, or
obtain conditional use permits are in violation of the Franchise Agreement.
The Court stated that even if the Franchise
Agreement did subject Crown Castle to the zoning ordinance, the requirements
and restrictions the City seeks to impose would be inappropriate as Crown
Castle’s services fit within the zoning ordinance’s definition of “local
utilities”; these local utilities are permitted uses in every zoning district
in the City and do not require additional zoning approval or conditional use
permits.
In regard to Virginia
state law, the Court held that the City’s attempts to require Crown Castle to
comply with the restrictions and requirements found in the zoning ordinance for
“communication towers/antennas” violates the Code of Virginia § 56-462(C). The Court found that Crown Castle is a
certificated provider of telecommunications services and the restrictions and
requirements the City seeks to impose are undoubtedly greater than those it
imposes on “all providers of telecommunications services and nonpublic
providers of cable television, electric, natural gas, water and sanitary sewer
services.”
The Court stated that the “statute does not allow the City to single out
a certificated provider of telecommunications services for more burdensome
treatment based solely on the unique equipment or technology it uses.”