Cities obtain preliminary injunction blocking two telecommunications bills

On Tuesday, August 27, 2013, several Missouri cities (Liberty, Gladstone, Lee's Summit, Butler, Cameron, and Independence) obtained a preliminary injunction from the Circuit Court in Cole County against the State of Missouri enjoining HB221 and HB345 (previously reported on) from going into effect and prohibiting the State from enforcing the bills on the grounds that they apparently violate the Missouri Constitution. These bills sought to (1) deprive cities of all zoning authority on collocations and existing structure replacement, (2) severely limit zoning control on all other wireless towers and antennas, (3) eliminate franchises and permits for ROW use for a special class of utilities operating prior to 2001, (4) allow telephone companies to waive rate limits and other PSC regulations, (5) impose unfunded mandates on cities, and (6) severely impact the rights of cities to control their own utility poles as to wired pole attachments as well as other property relating to wireless users, among many more significant impacts on cities and taxpayers. The bills were set to go into effect on August 28, 2013, but are now enjoined until further action of the Court. A copy of the injunction can be found here so that cities may inform applicants who may be unaware that the law was enjoined before it went into effect. If you have any questions about the lawsuit, you may call the City of Liberty or CVR, who represented the plaintiff cities. Additional media coverage can be found here.