In late December, AT&T Mobility, a wireless service provider, sued the Long Island village of Oyster Bay Cove and the village’s zoning board of appeals and planning board in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. AT&T alleged that the defendants failed to timely approve its request to construct a cell tower that it asserted was needed to provide reliable wireless service in an area of the village suffering from a “service gap.”

Lawsuits such as the one filed by AT&T involving proposed cell towers are not uncommon. This past September, a provider filed a similar lawsuit against another Long Island village and a host of other parties. New Cingular Wireless PCS, LLC v. Village of Muttontown, No. 22-cv-05524-JS-LGD (E.D.N.Y.). And about a year earlier, yet another similar suit was filed against Riverhead, a town in Long Island, and related defendants. Crown Castle Towers 06-2 LLC v. Town of Riverhead, No. 21-cv-789 (E.D.N.Y.).