The effort to site a six story cell tower on Portland - across the street from this church - has once again arisen, zombie-like. Verizon’s special permit was denied by the City Planning Commission (CPC) last August, then again (in slightly altered form) on March 30th. This should have been the end of the matter, unless Verizon went to the trouble of making an appeal to a federal court with a claim that denying their special permit for their preferred location (in an under-resourced neighborhood where they were able to get a speculating landowner to do a deal) “effectively prohibits” them from providing cell service to the entire area. They have not made a federal appeal.

Instead, after the vote to deny the Special Permit at its March 30th meeting, a city lawyer asked our local CPC to vote on a determination that the denial constitutes “Effective Prohibition” of service, despite the fact that this local board has no jurisdiction in federal telecommunications decisions and this is not the correct legal route. When this vote failed, he placed the same question on the agenda for their next meeting. 

The City Planning Commission's authority is bound by the zoning code. When reviewing an application for a cell tower, they also review the standards for “Effective Prohibition of Service.”  but only as a defensive measure against a lawsuit. They make findings regarding whether the applicant presented evidence proving they had a gap in service (need) and that their tower and technology is the only possible means of filling that gap. This places the CPC consideration on the record so if the applicant takes their denied permit to federal court with a claim that the city is prohibiting their service, the city shows they already considered it. It is likely that Verizon did not do so after the first denial, back in August, because they knew they could not make a case in Federal court that the place they chose (and bought a lease in 2024 in expectation of a successful Special Permit application) is the only one possible. 

Keep in mind that in this case the Special Permit request was for construction of a 6-story cell tower in a densely populated 2-story residential neighborhood, across the street from a place of worship, in a neighborhood that is deeply under-resourced, one of the poorest in the country, by a wealthy corporation that will use it to make yet more money. And in this case, the city's announcement of the denial last week was followed by this: 

“On March 30, 2026, the City Planning Commission (CPC) conducted a public hearing and deliberated upon the issue of whether the CPC's denial of a Special Permit for the Project would "have the effect of prohibiting the provision of personal wireless services," also known as an Effective Prohibition, which is prohibited by the federal Telecommunications Act of 1996 (47 U.S.C. § 332(c)(7)(B)(i)(ll)). The hearing and deliberations on whether the Project should be approved on the basis of Effective Prohibition culminated in a vote of 3-2, failing to receive four concurring votes for approval or denial. Pursuant to City Zoning Code §120-1840(1)(a), the concurring vote of four members shall be necessary for any action by the CPC.

Therefore, pursuant to §120-184G(4)(b) and due to the fact that the hearing culminated in no decision and the time period for rendering a decision has not expired, the public hearing on Verizon's application for approval of the Project on the basis of Effective Prohibition will be placed on the agenda of the CPC's next available public hearing date, which is May 18, 2026.”

City Zoning Code §120-1840(1)(a) permits the CPC to determine that some overwhelming public need overrides the usual 5 criteria for a Special Permit, so that the permit can be granted even though it fails one or more of those criteria. It does not authorize the Rochester CPC to make determinations regarding Federal Communications law. In other words, the City of Rochester is following up their own Planning Commission’s two denials of Verizon’s request to build a cell tower in a densely populated residential-zoned area by allowing Verizon's corporate lawyers the opportunity to convince them to make a decision for which they have no legal grounds, which would then be used to say that therefore the Special Permit MUST be granted, despite the egregious way in which it violates the criteria the board correctly applied in making their two decisions to deny. This is the first time such a direct request has been made of the CPC - but if we don't call it out now, it could be used as precedent for others.

We need to stop this brazen attempt to subvert correct zoning practice before it goes any further. Want to help fight against this exploitation of the Portland/Oneida area neighborhood for Verizon’s corporate profit?

• Click here to RSVP for our ZPAC planning meeting this week (it includes a doodle poll to determine the date and time that works best)