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<br />cell tower decision
<br />When a court decision begins,
<br />"[t]he City is a planned com�nuniry,"
<br />there is a good chance the community
<br />has prevailed. Palos `erdes Estates,
<br />California, did just that when Sprint
<br />challenged the city's denial of two
<br />permit applications to construct wire-
<br />less telecommunications facilities in
<br />public rights-of-way. The public works
<br />director approved eight applications
<br />submitted by Sprint, but the co�npany
<br />sued after two were denied because
<br />they were "not in keeping with the
<br />city's aesthetics." One site was a nar-
<br />row residential street and the other
<br />was a major entrance ro the citt
<br />ti'��hen a court- decision
<br />begins, `�t]he Cit3% is a
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<br />there is a good chance
<br />ihe commuilit�� has
<br />p�•evai(ed.
<br />The district court concluded that
<br />California law prohibits aesthetics as a
<br />justification and granted summary judg-
<br />ment to Sprint, but the �,'inth Circuit
<br />Court of Appeals reversed. It said that
<br />the federal Telecommunications Act of
<br />1996 requires a decision to be supported
<br />by substantial evidence, which means
<br />that it must be authorized by locallaw
<br />and supported by a reasonable amount of
<br />evidence. Both criteria were saasfied, the
<br />appellate court concluded. t�i ordinance
<br />adopted by the city authorized the denial
<br />of telecommunicauon facilities for "ad-
<br />verse aesthetic impacts arising from the
<br />proposed time, place, and manner of use
<br />of the public properry.° The court further
<br />noted that the California Consumtion
<br />gives the city authority to regulate local
<br />aesthetics. Spri��t PCSrlssets, L
<br />Palos Ue�-des Est�ites, > 83 F.3d 7
<br />2009 (9t1� Ci�:) �
<br />Denial of church relocation was valid
<br />The River of Life Kingdom Ministries,
<br />with 67 members, wanted to relocate from
<br />a warehouse it was renting to property
<br />it owned—a fixer-upper in Hazel Crest,
<br />Illinois, about 2� miles south of Chicago.
<br />The properry is located in an area that
<br />officials want to revitalize. It is part of a
<br />tax increment financing district designed
<br />to address the vacant storefronts, run-
<br />down houses, and underperfonning public
<br />schools there. The zoning allows general
<br />cornmercial and retail uses, gas stations,
<br />hotels, taverns, and offices as permitted
<br />uses, but excludes churches, communitv
<br />centers, art galleries, and recreational .
<br />buildings, a�nong other uses.
<br />After Hazel Crest denied its application,
<br />the church sued, claiming First Amend-
<br />tnent, Equal Protection, and Religious
<br />Land Use and Instimtionalized Persons
<br />Act violations. The district court denied
<br />the church's motion for a preliminary
<br />injunction. The church argued that since
<br />the zoning ordinance allows assemblies
<br />such as gymnasiums, health clubs, salons,
<br />day care centers, and hotels, then the
<br />ordinance treated religious assemblies on
<br />less than equal terms with non-religious
<br />ones, in viola[ion of RLLTIPA. The Seventh
<br />Circuit Court affirmed the earlier ruling,
<br />stating that "[a] locality seeking to create a
<br />commercial area s ou e a e to exc ude
<br />non-commerc�a uses at o not contr�b-
<br />ute to �u goa w� out v�o ating RLUIPA."
<br />The permitted assem �es inZie zonmg
<br />ordinance were all cotnmercial in nature,
<br />while churcl�es are not, it said. Rive�• of Life
<br />Kingdonz Mi��i�-�i-ies v. �linge of Hazel Crest,
<br />Na. OS-2819, OctoGer 27, 2009 (7tb Cir)
<br />Lucero is a land-use attorney in Albuquerque,
<br />New Mexico, and the editor of Pla n ning &
<br />Environmental Law, a monthlypublication of
<br />APA. She is the staffliaison to theAPAAmicus
<br />Curiae Committee.
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