Stop the Tower

Item in The Washington Post, Metro section, 11/1/02

Company Loses Bid to Sue City Over Tower

A federal appeals court has refused to reinstate a lawsuit filed by a company that wanted to build a 756-foot telecommunications tower in Northwest Washington.

Attorneys for American Towers Inc. wanted to revive a lawsuit filed against the D.C. government over the $5.6 million tower, on 41st Street NW near the Tenleytown Metro station. The company began erecting the tower after securing permits in March 2000 but was forced to stop work when the city revoked its building permit seven months later.

U.S. District Judge Paul L. Friedman dismissed the lawsuit--which sought $250 million in damages--in June 2001. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit rejected the company's challenge of Friedman's decision in a ruling Wednesday.