Verizon’s lawsuit still pending against City Hall
By SHRADDHA R. JAISWAL Special to the Daily Press
Officials here settled a lawsuit this week with AT&T. The suit claimed City Hall was preventing the company from giving its customers better cell phone reception.
AT&T Wireless and Verizon Wireless sued the city last year after their applications to install cell phone antennas were denied — not based on merit but rather because City Hall didn’t have a law regulating the application and construction process for new utilities.
The agreement between AT&T and City Hall rests on whether the company gets approval to install an antenna in Santa Monica. AT&T’s permit application will now go through a new process mandated by a recently approved ordinance.
Although the settlement has not yet been drafted, Deputy City Attorney Cara Silver said AT&T and the City Council had agreed on most of the major terms. Once the agreement is signed by both parties, AT&T’s application to build an antenna on 19th Street and San Vicente Boulevard will be considered within two weeks. If approved, the lawsuit will be formally dropped, and Santa Monicans with AT&T cell phones will have better service once the antenna is installed, officials said.
“If the permit does go through, it will be subject to most of the new regulations in the new ordinance,” Silver said. “We hope that the installation will be a model installation for other installations, so the city has taken extra time to work with AT&T to ensure that the design is as camouflaged as possible.”
However, officials said if the permit approval doesn’t go through, the lawsuit will remain.
Verizon filed the first complaint in state court in September 2003 and re-filed in federal court in April. AT&T followed suit and filed its federal case in December 2003 and amended its complaint this past May.
Despite the resolution with AT&T, the City Council has not reached an agreement with Verizon. Because a six-month moratorium on new utility construction will end this month, City Hall and Verizon will either have to come to an agreement or move forward with the case.
If an agreement with City Hall is not reached, Verizon won’t be able to install the three antennas for which it has applied. Company representatives say these would provide better service for customers.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 16, 2004. Read the original PDF.