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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 17,1999
Good decision
Logic prevails, and the Supreme
Court supports local governments.
lthough an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court
may follow, the recent decision by the Virginia A* ^Supreme Court regrading the placement of cellular communication towers on Virginia Department of Transportation rights-of-way is a triumph of fairness and good sense.
And it’s also nice to see judicial rulings that supporting local government.
The legal case began to take shape in 1997, when a Fairfax County court ruled that wireless phone companies need not go through local zoning procedures when their towers were located on state-owned property.
The lower-court ruling took zoning authority away from local governments, and gave it to VDOT, which began negotiating leases for tower sites along its roadways without having to get permission from anybody.
Virginia’s highest court took a much broader view of the situation. The justices ruled that since the towers were not owned by VDOT, and that their primary purpose was for “non-governmental functions,” the proposed structures were subject to local zoning authority.
That doesn’t mean that towers on VDOT rights-ofway can’t be built; it just means that such structures will have to go through the same rezoning process as towers built on private property. County officials would then determine — through study and public hearings — if the tower site is in accord with the county’s comprehensive plan.
The demand for cellular phone service has exploded since the original ruling was allowed to stand! More than 80 towers have already been built on VDOT property, with another 30 or more proposed.
Currently, no applications are on file for towers on VDOT rights-of-way in Rappahannock County, although the possibility has been brought up by cellular phone company representatives in the past.
But under the current ruling, there is no question that such requests will have to go before county planners, and that’s what matters. And with our recentlyadopted ordinance dealing with the cell tower issue, we’ll be ready.
If tested in the future by the U. S. Supreme Court, the Virginia ruling should stand, regardless of the pressure that may be brought to bear by the big wireless companies.
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