Spring Lake Fights for More Time as Verizon Denies Extension on 5G Towers Public hearing scheduled for November as council seeks formal reconsideration to delay decision on oceanfront cell towers.
By Jim Lonergan
Published October 16, 2024 at 2:44 PM
Last updated October 17, 2024 at 7:40 AM
SPRING LAKE, NJ - During the public part of the recent Spring Lake meeting, organizer of SpringLakeAgainst5GTowers.com Kelly Badishkanian asked for an update on the status of the 5G October 15th deadline and if there is a scheduled second public forum.
Council President Brendan Judge responded, “this relates to the application filed by Verizon to erect 6 cell towers along our oceanfront. At the last public hearing we had, the deadline we had to approve or reject the application was October 15th. Since then, the Borough has received a great deal more information from the public and some additional information from Verizon as recently as October 7th. We asked Verizon for an extension of that deadline, but they denied that request.”
He continued “So what we are doing is making a formal request for reconsideration of that. We will not be ruling on that any time before the 15th. We expect that we will have a public hearing at our meeting on November 12th, and we will decide either at that meeting, or sometime thereafter, how counsel wants to move on that application.” Click HERE for our initial article on the Verizon challenge.
Since the towns' request for an extension on Verizon's 5G application was denied, and assume they submit a formal request, according to Keane & Beane P.C., there are a number of potential reasons and outcomes that could occur:
Shot Clock Impact: The formal request may suspend or reset the FCC-mandated timeline, depending on local regulations and the town’s justification
Legal Grounds: A formal request strengthens the town's position for potential appeals or litigation by showing they followed proper procedures.
Public Involvement: Formal requests may trigger public hearings, increasing transparency and potentially influence decision-making.
Regulatory Scrutiny: A formal request invites more scrutiny from both Verizon and regulatory bodies, focusing on compliance with federal or local laws.
In speaking with Scott McCollough, of McCollough Law Firm PC, a firm focused on Telecomm and Broadband and representing SpringLakeAgainst5Gtowers.com, “we have all assumed October 15 is the last day in the shot clock period because that is what the city lawyers and Verizon say. There may be some basis to argue that is not in fact the deadline, but we are not aware of any at this point. Something may come out later, though.”
In digging deeper to understand what the October 15th deadline means to the town and the application filed by Verizon that was made public, McCollough added, "there are some cases on this. For this type of application (new small cells in right-of-way) the shot clock is merely a presumed reasonable period for the decision deadline. Unlike minor modifications to existing facilities, going past the deadline does not lead to deemed approval. Instead, Verizon will have to seek judicial relief within 30 days and secure a ruling that the Borough took longer than a reasonable time. The presumption they did (by not deciding by the assumed deadline) can be rebutted, and the resolution is fact-based. The Borough can say the specifics of the case justify a longer time because (for example) Verizon provided a considerable amount of new material at the last minute and the Borough needed more time to review that. So the Borough will have the ability to rebut the presumption."
The Borough is now making a formal request for reconsideration, with a public hearing in Spring Lake set for November 12th. Legal experts noted that while the October 15th date is a presumed reasonable deadline under FCC guidelines, Verizon would need to pursue judicial relief if the Borough exceeds the deadline, giving the Borough the opportunity to argue for more time based on new information provided by Verizon.
We will update the definitive date, time and place once the details are released to the public by the Spring Lake Borough Government.