Breaking: Victory Against 5G in Flower Hill
In a landmark legal decision in July of 2022, Judge Frederic Block, Senior United States District Judge for the Eastern District of New York, found that the Village of Flower Hill, NY, was justified in denying the application of ExteNet (acting as an agent for Verizon Wireless) to place 18 small cell antennas in the Village.
The Judge quoted from the 1996 Telecommunications Act, citing the provision that “nothing in this chapter shall limit or affect the authority of a State or local government or instrumentality thereof over decisions regarding the placement, construction, and modification of personal wireless service facilities.”
He noted that other courts have found the Act to be “in many important respects a model of ambiguity or indeed even self-contradiction.” Nevertheless, he reasoned, a plain reading of the text supports the claim by the Village that it has acted legally, establishing a strong written record and denying the applications based on legitimate principles.
