New Cingular Wireless PCS LLC v. City of West Covina, California

I. Background

22 A. Factual Background 23 Plaintiff New Cingular Wireless PCS, LLC, d/b/a AT&T Mobility (“AT&T”) provides 24 personal wireless services to its customers, including to residents of Defendant City of West Covina, 25 California (the “City”). In order to fill an alleged service coverage gap, AT&T submitted an 26 application for a conditional use permit (the “Application”) for the construction, operation, and 27 maintenance of a stealth wireless communications facility (the “Proposed Facility”). The Proposed 28 Facility was to be disguised as a eucalyptus tree and located at 3540 East Cameron Avenue (the “Site”), situated adjacent to two existing water tanks on private water district property in the City. This case concerns whether the City properly denied AT&T’s Application to build its Proposed Facility. In particular, the issue in this case is whether the denial amounted to an effective prohibition in violation of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. B. Procedural History On March 12, 2022, AT&T filed a Complaint against the City alleging three causes of action: (1) prohibiting the provision of personal wireless services…