A church has won out over a university to file for an LPFM construction permit in the Chicago metropolitan area, also referred to as Chicagoland.
The tentative selectee of a mutually exclusive (MX) group in the 2023 LPFM filing window was Trinity International University, based in Lake County. Its application for a station on 106.3 FM from Deerfield, Ill., was signed by Paul J. Parello, Jr.
Antioquia Pentecostal Church in Lincolnshire was also part of the MX group. It filed an informal objection to the selection of Trinity. Antioquia alleged that Parello is not identified as an officer or director of Trinity in its application. He signed the application as its media services manager.
Antioquia also noted the Trinity application proposed a station with two watts ERP from a height of 87 ft. above average terrain. Antioquia argued this was less than the FCC’s required LPFM minimum of 50 watts ERP at approximately 98 feet HAAT, or the equivalent necessary to produce a 60 dBu contour that extends at least three miles.
The FCC’s Media Bureau ruled in favor of Antioquia and dismissed the Trinity application. The FCC’s “Signature Rule” requires that applications filed by a corporation be signed by an officer. The commission reiterated that an application that does not comply with the Signature Rule at the time it is filed “cannot be amended to correct this deficiency.”
In its ruling, the FCC also noted that applicants in the 2023 filing window had already been advised of the persons who are eligible to sign applications. The commission also said, as a separate reason for dismissing the Trinity application, its proposed facility indeed violates the LPFM minimum power and antenna height requirements.
[Related: “Nevada Church’s LPFM Application Dismissed for Signature Rule Misstep”]
According to the FCC, Trinity did not file an opposition to Antioquia’s petition.
As a result of the dismissal of Trinity’s application, the Antioquia LPFM application became a singleton and the commission accepted it for filing. There is now a 30-day window for parties to file a petition to deny its application.
Antioquia Pentecostal Church desires to broadcast on 106.3 from a tower site in Lincolnshire, about 25 miles northwest of downtown Chicago. The Round Lake Park-based church says it wishes to use the station to further its mission to “bring people to Jesus” and to expand its community ministry.
