Wednesday, November 10, 1999
Court refuses tower case
Anderson Twp. loses battle
BY ALLEN HOWARD
The Cincinnati Enquirer
ANDERSON TWP. — The township lost its battle with two telecommunication companies over the construction of towers along Interstate 275.
The Ohio Supreme Court has refused to hear the case. The township sought to get overturned a lower court ruling last year supporting the right to build the towers.
“The court's ruling ends the fight,” said Russ Jackson, president of the township board of trustees. “We have to see what to do with the money that was donated by other townships to help fight the case.”
A legal battle started last year after AirTouch and GTE Wireless entered an agreement with the Ohio Department of Transportation to build towers along I-275 at the Five Mile Road and U.S. 52 exits.
The township argued that the land was zoned residential and wanted the companies to go through its zoning procedure to show that they could not find another location or could not co-locate with another tower company.
The companies and ODOT filed a lawsuit in Columbus against the township. Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Patrick M. McGrath ruled that the towers could be built on the land zoned residential because it was land owned by ODOT.
Judge McGrath also ruled that the companies did not have to go through the zoning procedure because they were classified as public utilities once they entered the agreement with ODOT.
Both towers were built last year while the issue continued in court.
The Ohio 10th District Court of Appeals upheld the lower court's ruling, causing the township to send the case to the Ohio Supreme Court.
“This was not a fight over how the towers looked in the community. Our concern was zoning and protection of property. We didn't sue them. They sued us,” Mr. Jackson said.
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