Opinion ID: 200116
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Cooperation Among Service Providers

Text: 20 The first reason set forth in the Board's written decision for denying plaintiffs' application concerns the Town's responsibility to provide for minimal impact siting and to promote cooperation between competitors. Under the Telecommunications Facility Ordinance, the Town is required to limit the construction of telecommunication towers by encouraging cooperation between competitors and having as many wireless service providers on a single tower as possible. Art. VII, § 7.80(II)(C). The Board felt that the plaintiffs' application did not adequately meet these objectives. 21 In defense of the Board's reliance on this factor, the Town cites persuasive evidence in the record to support the conclusion that only one tower was necessary to rectify the coverage gap. For instance, Tony Wells, a radio frequency engineer for American Tower, stated that the coverage for either [tower] proposal would be equivalent. In addition, Ivan Pagacik, an independent telecommunications consultant, informed the Board that [t]he proposed American Tower site at 140 feet does fill in th[e] [coverage] gap. 2 22 Though this evidence may justify the Board's decision to construct only one tower, however, it provides no basis for choosing American Tower's application over the plaintiffs'. The crucial question, then, is whether the plaintiffs have shown that the Board's reliance on this factor to select American Tower's proposal over the plaintiffs' is not supported by substantial evidence. 3 Both SBA/ATC and American Tower assured the Planning Board that they would allow competing wireless service providers to use the antenna facilities on their towers. The only difference between the proposals is that whereas the plaintiffs' proposed tower could accommodate six wireless service providers, American Tower could only hold five providers on its tower. Thus, in terms of willingness to cooperate and ability to serve wireless companies, the proposals are virtually identical, with the plaintiffs' application being marginally better. 4 23