T-Mobile South, LLC v. City of Roswell, Georgia
Split Score
What is a Split Score?
This score (0-100) indicates how likely this case is to be reviewed by the Supreme Court based on:
Case Summary
Disposition
Vacated
The Eleventh Circuit vacated a district-court injunction that had compelled the City of Roswell to issue a permit for a cellular tower. Rejecting the widely used “significant gap” approach, the court held that the Telecommunications Act’s effective-prohibition clause limits only state or local rules governing tower siting, not the denial of a single permit, and remanded for further proceedings under that interpretation.
Circuit Split Identified
Legal Issue
Whether 47 U.S.C. § 332(c)(7)(B)(i)'s "effective-prohibition" clause applies to the denial of a single wireless-tower permit (significant-gap test) or only to broader state or local rules regulating tower siting.
Circuit Positions
§ 332(c)(7)(B)(i) covers individual permit denials; apply significant-gap / least-intrusive (or only-feasible-plan) test.
§ 332(c)(7)(B)(i) restricts only rules or broader regulatory schemes, not one-off permit denials; significant-gap test rejected.
Conflict Summary
Most circuits apply the "significant gap / least intrusive means" test and allow providers to challenge the denial of an individual permit as an effective prohibition. The Eleventh Circuit (joined by the Third Circuit's recent critique) holds that the statute limits only state or local rules or policies and does not authorize challenges based solely on a single permit denial.