It appears legal battles that have been going on for more than a year between Sprint Spectrum L.P. and the city of Medina, Wash., over tower siting have come to an end.
Sprint PCS said it dropped its recent lawsuit that charged the city with violating the telecommunications act because it denied Sprint PCS certain building permits for an area near a neighborhood.
“Our team has been successful in obtaining three alternative sites that replace that site,” said Bob Kelly, Sprint PCS spokesman. “We’re focused on speed in building out our network, rather than being bogged down legally … We took the high road with a resolution here.”
Medina City Attorney Kirk Wines said Sprint PCS dropped the lawsuit when the city proved it had no right to construct the tower in that area, which Wines said is 80- feet away from a residential area. Tele-Communications Inc., the cable provider there and part owner of Sprint PCS, agreed to remove a microwave tower it had in the same area, relinquishing Sprint PCS’ right to build there, he said.
Sprint PCS’ initial skirmish with the city happened more than a year ago, as one of the first clashes between local governments and carriers after the passage of the telecom act. Sprint PCS failed to win a lawsuit it filed in Seattle court challenging a moratorium Medina City Council enacted last February to halt tower building for six months.
Sprint PCS already offers service in the Seattle area. Locating towers in Medina is vital to Sprint PCS’ buildout due to congested wireless traffic along the Evergreen Point bridge across Lake Washington.
