Sprint Spectrum, L.P. v. Platte County, Mo.

• Decision Date: 06 August 2009
• Docket Number: No. 08-1965.,08-1965.
• Citation: Sprint Spectrum, L.P. v. Platte County, Mo., 578 F.3d 727 (8th Cir. 2009)
• Parties: SPRINT SPECTRUM, L.P., doing business as Sprint PCS, Appellant, v. PLATTE COUNTY, MISSOURI, Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

578 F.3d 727

SPRINT SPECTRUM, L.P., doing business as Sprint PCS, Appellant, v. PLATTE COUNTY, MISSOURI, Appellee.

No. 08-1965.

United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit.

Submitted: January 15, 2009.

Filed: August 6, 2009.

Rehearing and Rehearing En Banc Denied September 17, 2009.^*

Michael C. Seamands, argued, St. Louis, MO, for appellant.

W. Brian Gaddy, argued, Walter M. Brown, on the brief, Kansas City, MO, for appellee.

Before BYE, COLLOTON, and GRUENDER, Circuit Judges.

COLLOTON, Circuit Judge.

Sprint Spectrum, L.P. ("Sprint"), sued Platte County, Missouri, alleging that the County's Planning and Zoning Commission ("Commission") violated the Telecommunications Act of 1996 ("TCA") by denying Sprint's application for a special use permit to construct a telecommunications tower. Sprint argued that the Commission's decision was neither "in writing" nor "supported by substantial evidence contained in a written record," as required by the TCA. 47 U.S.C. § 332(c)(7)(B)(iii). The district court¹ granted summary judgment in favor of Platte County, and Sprint appeals. We conclude that the Commission's denial of the permit application was "in writing" and "supported by substantial evidence," and we therefore affirm.

I.

Sprint is licensed by the Federal Communications Commission to provide wireless telecommunications services to certain geographic markets, including Platte County. To improve wireless cellular phone coverage in the area, Sprint sought to build a telecommunications tower on a 7.47-acre parcel of property owned by a local church. The property is zoned as an agricultural district, but is adjacent to several residential subdivisions. The Platte County Zoning Order of 1990 ("Zoning Order") permits the construction of telecommunications towers in agricultural districts, but only if applicants first obtain a special use permit from the Commission.

In June 2005, Sprint submitted its first application for a special use permit to the Commission. It proposed to construct a 150-foot monopole tower on the church property. The Platte County Planning and Zoning Department ("Department"), which is responsible for issuing recommendations to the Commission, reviewed the application and decided not to support it. In a letter to Sprint, the Department stated that it had considered several factors listed in the Zoning Order, including the proximity of the tower to residential areas, the design of the tower, and surrounding tree coverage, and concluded that Sprint had not adequately addressed how to reduce or eliminate the visual obtrusiveness of the tower. The Commission held a public hearing on the matter, during which the Department stressed that the tower would visually dominate an area that was largely residential, and that the City of Platte City, a neighboring jurisdiction, opposed the proposal. At the close of the hearing, the Commission unanimously denied the permit.

In March 2006, Sprint filed a revised special use permit application, this time proposing a 153-foot stealth tower disguised as a flagpole. The Department again reviewed the application, and again decided not to support it. In a second letter to Sprint, the Department stated that while it appreciated Sprint's effort to propose a flagpole instead of a monopole design, the problems identified with respect to the first proposal were not resolved by the amended application. The Department also prepared a "Staff Report," which contained a more detailed explanation of its reasons. The report stated that the proposal failed to advance several of the Zoning Order's goals for telecommunication towers, including locating towers in non-residential areas and minimizing their aesthetic impact. This was so, the report explained, because the tower would "visually dominate an otherwise residential area," and because a more substantial buffer than the one offered was needed to reduce the adverse aesthetic effect of the tower. The report also stated that the "proposed telecommunications tower would substantially injure the value of the neighboring properties as well as compromise the residential setting in the area." Finally, the report stated that the Platte County R-III School District opposed the permit request.

The Commission held a hearing to consider Sprint's amended application. The Commission had before it an administrative record that contained, among other documents, the Department's letter and Staff Report, letters from Platte City and the school district opposing the tower, five letters from property owners opposing Sprint's application, and Sprint's application materials. Sprint's application included a site plan of the proposed tower, maps of the area, and simulated photographs and drawings of the tower.

At the hearing, Jason Halterman, a member of the Department, stated that the scale and location of the tower had not changed from the first proposal, and that the tower would depress property values and continue to have an adverse aesthetic impact on the area. Halterman also explained that Platte City and the school district opposed the permit. Sprint's representative testified, stating that the flagpole design was intended to accommodate the previous aesthetic objections to the monopole design, and that Sprint had no other option but to place the tower in the proposed location. In addition, Sprint's representative urged that telecommunications towers need to be relatively close to people to provide adequate cellular coverage, and that towers in residential areas do not affect property values.

The Commission voted unanimously to deny Sprint's revised application for a special use permit, recording its decision in a four-page document entitled "Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law and Special Use Permit." The Commission's written decision set forth several reasons for denial of the application, including conclusions that the tower would have a negative effect on property values and would "dominate the immediate neighborhood so as to prevent development and use of neighboring property."

In May 2006, Sprint brought an action against Platte County in the district court, asserting, among other claims, that the Commission's denial of its application for a special use permit was neither "in writing" nor supported by "substantial evidence," as required by the TCA. Sprint moved for summary judgment on that ground, requesting that the district court issue an injunction directing Platte County to grant Sprint's application for a special use permit. Platte County opposed Sprint's motion, urging that substantial evidence in the administrative record supported the Commission's decision to deny the permit based on the tower's adverse aesthetic impact and negative effect on property values.

The district court denied Sprint's motion and sua sponte granted summary judgment in favor of Platte County. The court concluded that the Commission's decision satisfied the "in writing" requirement and was supported by "substantial evidence" based on aesthetic concerns alone. The court concluded that Platte County's claim that the proposed tower would reduce property values was not supported by the record. Following the court's judgment, Sprint voluntarily dismissed the remaining counts in its complaint with prejudice, thus creating a final, appealable judgment. See Great Rivers Co-op. of Se. Iowa v. Farmland Indus., Inc., 198 F.3d 685, 688 (8th Cir.1999).

II.

Sprint argues that the district court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of Platte County. We review the district court's grant of summary judgment de novo, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the non-moving party. Level 3 Commc'ns, L.L.C. v. City of St. Louis, 477 F.3d 528, 533 (8th Cir. 2007). Summary judgment is appropriate if there is no genuine issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(a).

The TCA "was intended by Congress to foster competition among telecommunications providers, to improve the quality of their services, and to encourage the rollout of new technologies without delay." USCOC of Greater Iowa, Inc. v. Zoning Bd. of Adjustment, 465 F.3d 817, 820 (8th Cir. 2006). To achieve these goals, the TCA reduces the "`impediments imposed by local governments upon the installation of facilities for wireless communications,'" including telecommunication towers. Id. (quoting City of Rancho Palos Verdes v. Abrams, 544 U.S. 113, 115, 125 S.Ct. 1453, 161 L.Ed.2d 316 (2005)). At the same time, the TCA preserves the authority of local zoning boards "`over decisions regarding the placement, construction, and modification of personal wireless service facilities,'" subject to certain substantive and procedural limitations. Id. (quoting 47 U.S.C. § 332(c)(7)(A)). One such limitation, codified at 47 U.S.C. § 332(c)(7)(B)(iii), requires that a local board's denial of a permit to construct a telecommunications tower "be in writing and supported by substantial evidence contained in a written record."

The Commission provided four reasons for its decision, set forth in paragraphs lettered A through D:

A. The proposed Special Use does not comply with all applicable provisions of the Platte County Zoning Order of 1990, including use regulations, height and area regulations, parking regulations and building requirements.

B. The proposed Special Use at the location described herein will adversely affect the welfare or convenience of the public.

C. The proposed Special Use will cause substantial injury to the value of the property in the neighborhood in which it is to be located.

D. The location and size of the Special Use, the nature and intensity of the operation involved in or conducted in connection with it, and the location of the site with respect to the streets giving access to it are such that the Special Use will dominate the immediate neighborhood so as to prevent development and use of neighboring property in...