Opinion ID: 761234
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Property values

Text: 33 The Town argues that citizen concerns with the impact on property values were adequate to satisfy the substantial evidence test. The Town points out that a number of residents expressed concern that the presence of nearby cell sites would decrease the values of their homes. Further, at one of the hearings, a real estate broker submitted an affidavit stating that the presence of cell sites would depress real estate values of nearby property in a manner similar to the drop in value caused by the presence of high tension power lines. However, the broker offered no evidence other than her unsupported affidavit to prove how she reached this conclusion. AT & T in return presented the report of a real estate appraiser who found that water tower-based cell sites in other towns on Long Island had no impact on the value of nearby homes. 34 The evaluation of property value evidence under the TCA raises some difficult questions. In addition to the uncertain weight to be afforded to citizens' views, this argument raises the issue of how to weigh residents' unsupported expressions of concern against a proffer of expert testimony. See PrimeCo, 26 F.Supp.2d at 1063 (holding that, in the face of expert testimony evidence, unsupported constituent testimony in opposition to a cellular tower permit will not satisfy the substantial evidence test); Cellular Telephone Co., 24 F.Supp.2d at 372 (holding that essentially non-expert testimony presented by local residents with possible biases ... is not enough to discredit the testimony of qualified experts). Further, since property values can be objectively proven, it is not clear if the Town must receive traditional evidence that would tend to demonstrate that cell sites have a negative impact on property values in order to satisfy the substantial evidence test. See Sprint Spectrum L.P. v. Town of North Stonington, 12 F.Supp.2d 247, 254 (D.Conn.1998) (holding that in order for the Town Planning & Zoning Commission to deny a permit application based on property values, the Town bore the burden of putting evidence into the record tending to show such a negative impact). 35 Further, reliance on concerns about loss of value itself raises a question in this context. AT & T suggests that citizens' property value concerns were a result of their fear of rfe-related health effects, and a review of the record lends strong support to this view. AT & T therefore argues that the TCA bars reliance on fear of declining property values because this rationale is actually a proxy for the impermissible ground of environmental effects. Neither federal TCA case law nor New York property case law offer a clear resolution of this issue. 36 However, we need not resolve these troubling questions, as we again conclude that the volume and specificity of the comments were not adequate to satisfy the requirement of the substantial evidence standard. See Iowa Wireless, 29 F.Supp.2d at 922 (finding that concerns of citizens regarding potential aesthetic or economic effects may amount to 'substantial' evidence in some circumstances but holding that in that case public concern was too limited to satisfy the substantial evidence standard). A few generalized concerns about a potential decrease in property values, especially in light of AT & T's contradictory expert testimony, does not seem adequate to support a conclusion, Universal Camera, 340 U.S. at 477, 71 S.Ct. 456, that the permits should be denied.