Deutsche Telekom AG ’s T-Mobile South had argued that Roswell, Ga., fell short of federal requirements in 2010 when it sent the company a brief letter denying its request to build an 11-story cell tower in a residential neighborhood, and referred the company to city council minutes to discern the decision’s rationale.
The opinion, by Justice Sonia Sotomayor , rejected T-Mobile’s argument that the city should have provided a written decision spelling out the reasons for rejecting the tower. But it did hold that Roswell erred by taking too long to provide the council minutes for T-Mobile to review.
By a 6-3 vote, the court found that local authorities must provide such materials “at essentially the same time” they deny cell-tower requests, so carriers have an adequate opportunity to decide whether to challenge the decision in court within a 30-day deadline.