DA 26-62 In Reply Refer to: 1800B3-BH Released: January 16, 2026 Holly USA Espirit Church c/o Abel Tobias Garcia 1406 Pasadena St. San Antonio, TX 78201 josealves8230@gmail.com (sent by email) Holly USA Espirit Church c/o Dan J. Alpert 2120 21st Rd. N Arlington, VA 22201 dja@commlaw.tv (sent by email) Holly USA Espirit Church c/o Mark B. Denbo 5028 Wisconsin Avenue, N.W. Suite 301 Washington, DC 20016 mdenbo@fccworld.com (sent by email) In re: Holly USA Espirit Church New LPFM, Macdona, Texas Facility ID No. 788552 Application File No. 0000233033 Dear Applicant: We have before us the above-referenced application (Application) for a construction permit for a new low power FM (LPFM) station at Macdona, Texas, (Station), filed by Holly USA Espirit Church (Holly USA). Application File No. 0000233033 (filed Dec. 15, 2023). For the reasons set forth below, we dismiss the Application. Background. Holly USA filed the Application during the 2023 LPFM filing window. Media Bureau Announces Filing Procedures and Requirements for November 1 – November 8, 2023, Low Power FM Filing Window, Public Notice, 38 FCC Rcd 6660 (MB 2023) (Procedures Public Notice). Based on a request from LPFM advocates, the Bureau subsequently delayed the window until December 6, 2023. Media Bureau Announces Revised Dates for LPFM New Station Application Filing Window, Public Notice, 38 FCC Rcd 9589 (MB 2023). The Bureau subsequently extended the close of the window until December 15, 2023. Media Bureau Announces Extension of LPFM New Station Application Filing Window, Public Notice, 38 FCC Rcd 11882 (MB 2023). In the Application, Holly USA certifies that it qualifies as local both because it is physically headquartered and has 75% of its board members residing within 10 miles of its proposed transmitting antenna site. Application, Legal Certifications Section, Community-Based Criteria questions. As discussed below, because the transmitter is located in the San Antonio, Texas radio market, which is a top 50 urban market, either Holly USA’s headquarters must be within 10 miles of the proposed site for the transmitting antenna, or, alternatively, 75% of Holly USA’s board members must reside with 10 miles of the proposed site for the transmitting antenna in order for Holly USA to be eligible to hold an LPFM authorization under the Commission’s Rules. 47 CFR § 73.853(b)(1), (2). The Application identifies the address of the Applicant as “1406 Pasadena St, San Antonio, TX 78201,” which it indicates is also the location proposed for the Station’s main studio. Application, Applicant Information; Point System Factors, Main Studio question. Based on images from Google Maps, the address appears to be the location of a church of a different name. In addition, according to signage visible on Google Maps, the address also appears to be the location of an existing radio station, La Nueva 90.5 FM, K213FJ. According to the Commission’s Licensing and Management System (LMS) database, K213FJ is an FM translator licensed to Centro Cristiano de Vida Eterna, which is also the licensee of several dozen FM Radio, FM translator, and low power television stations located across Texas and California. Discussion. We find that Holly USA fails to meet the localism requirements of either sections 73.853(b)(1) or 73.853(b)(2) of the Rules. 47 CFR § 73.853(b)(1), (2). An LPFM applicant must qualify as a “local” entity at the time that it files its FCC Form 2100, Schedule 318 application (LPFM Application). See Instructions for LPFM Application, Legal Certifications, Eligibility Certifications, and Community-Based Criteria Certifications. See also LPFM Application, Legal Certifications, Eligibility Certifications, and Community-Based Criteria Certifications. In order to qualify as local, a nonprofit educational organization LPFM applicant, such as Holly USA, will be deemed local if it can certify, at the time of filing its application, that either: (1) The applicant, its local chapter or branch is physically headquartered or has a campus within 16.1 km (10 miles) of the proposed site for the transmitting antenna for applicants in the top 50 urban markets, and 32.1 km (20 miles) for applicants outside of the top 50 urban markets; [or] 47 CFR § 73.853(b)(1). (2) It has 75% of its board members residing within 16.1 km (10 miles) of the proposed site for the transmitting antenna for applicants in the top 50 urban markets, and 32.1 km (20 miles) for applicants outside of the top 50 urban markets . . . . Id. at § 73.853(b)(2). See also Creation of Low Power Radio Service, MM Docket No. 99-25, Report and Order, 15 FCC Rcd 2205, 2219, para. 33 (2000). Because Holly USA’s proposed transmitter is located in the San Antonio, Texas Nielsen Radio Metro Market, which is ranked number 24 among urban markets in the country, See The Nielsen Company (US) LLC, Radio Market Survey Population & Information, Fall 2025, at 2 (2025) https://www.nielsen.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/redbook_fa25.pdf. Both Macdona, Texas, and the proposed antenna transmitter site are located in Bexar County, Texas, which is part of the San Antonio, Texas Radio Metro Market. See The Nielsen Company (US) LLC, 2023 Radio Metro Map https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Arbitron/Market-Maps/Nielsen-Radio-Market-Mape-Fall-2023.pdf . the headquarters of Holly USA must be located, or 75% of its board members must reside, within 10 miles of the proposed site for the transmitting antenna. 47 CFR § 73.853(b). In the Application, Holly USA certifies that it satisfies the local applicant criteria, claiming it has both its physical headquarters and 75% of its board members residing within 10 miles of its proposed transmitting antenna site. See Application at Legal Certifications, Community-Based Criteria Certifications. These certifications appears to be false. We find that Holly USA does not satisfy either of the requirements of section 73.853(b). The transmitting antenna site that Holly USA identifies in its Application is located at 29° 21' 53.3" N, 098° 45' 05.1" W. Application at Antenna Location Data Section, Coordinates question. We have confirmed that this site is 15.8 miles from 1406 Pasadena St, San Antonio, Texas 78201, the address listed as Holly USA’s headquarters and the Station’s proposed main studio, Application at Applicant Information Section; Point System Factors Section, Main Studio question (listing address of 1406 Pasadena St., San Antonio, Texas 78201). and thus is beyond the 10-mile requirement specified in section 73.853(b)(1). We further find that the addresses for all three of Holly USA’s directors are located more than 10 miles from the transmitting antenna site, and thus, Holly USA also fails to meet the eligibility requirement of section 73.853(b)(2). Indeed, none of the directors listed on the Application even reside in the same market as the proposed Station, let alone within 10 miles. Specifically, Maria Perez Ramos resides 186 miles away in Houston, Texas; Magdalena Martinez resides 204.8 miles away in Houston, Texas; and Abel Tobias Garcia resides 249 miles away in the Dallas-Ft. Worth, Texas market. Application at Parties to the Application Section (listing 5700 Thousand Oaks Ct., Houston, Texas 77092 as the address for Maria Perez Ramos; 1214 Elberta St., Houston, Texas, 77051 as the address for Magdalena Martinez; and 220 Bailey Dr., De Soto, TX 75115 as the address for Abel Tobias Garcia). Therefore, we conclude that Holly USA does not qualify as local under section 73.853(b) of the Rules, despite its affirmative certifications. 47 CFR § 73.853(b). Accordingly, we find Holly USA ineligible to hold an LPFM license and dismiss the Application. See, e.g., Bump FM Inc., Letter Order, DA 24-243, at 4 (MB Mar. 13, 2024). In addition, we also find that the Application fails to comply with the foreign ownership restrictions of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended (the Act) and, thus, is patently deficient on that basis as well. All LPFM applicants and licensees are subject to the statutory requirements of section 310(b) of the Act, which limits foreign ownership and voting interests in radio station licenses, including broadcast licenses. Creation of Low Power Radio Service, Memorandum Opinion and Order on Reconsideration, 15 FCC Rcd 19208, 19243-44, para. 89 (2000) (LPFM Order on Recon) (citing 47 U.S.C. § 310(b)). While foreign parties may act as officers or directors of corporate licensees, Telecommunications Act of 1996, Pub. L. No. 104-104, § 403(k), 110 Stat. 56 (1996); Amendment of Parts 20, 21, 22, 24, 26, 80, 87, 90, 100, and 101 of the Commission’s Rules to Implement Section 403(k) of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, Order, 11 FCC Rcd 13072 (1996) (Citizenship Requirements Order). Prior to enactment of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, Section 310(b)(3) precluded a license from being granted to a corporation with any foreign officers or directors, and Section 310(b)(4) provided that the Commission could deny an application or revoke a license where any officer of the parent corporation is a foreign party. Citizenship Requirements Order, 11 FCC Rcd at 13073, para. 2. section 310(b)(3) prohibits foreign entities from owning or voting more than 20 percent of the capital stock of a broadcast licensee. 47 U.S.C. § 310(b)(3). If either the foreign ownership or voting interest in an applicant or licensee exceeds the 20 percent benchmark, we are required by law to revoke the license or refuse to grant the license application. Request for Declaratory Ruling Concerning the Citizenship Requirements of Sections 310(b)(3) and (4) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, Declaratory Ruling, 103 FCC 2d 511, 517-18, para. 12 & n.33, 520, para. 16 (1983) (Wilner and Scheiner I), clarified upon reconsideration, Memorandum Opinion and Order, 1 FCC Rcd 12 (1986). The Commission has determined that section 310(b) applies not only to corporate interests, but also to partnership and other non-corporate interests. See Wilner and Scheiner I, 103 FCC 2d at 514-15, para. 7, 516, para. 10 (stating that the Commission has applied the strictures of section 310(b) to a variety of non-corporate entities, including unincorporated associations and partnerships). Recognizing that many entities that would hold LPFM licenses would be non-stock corporations or other non-stock entities, the Commission provided that, for the purpose of determining whether a non-stock LPFM applicant or licensee complies with the statutory foreign ownership requirements, we will first consider the citizenship of those individuals who would have the ability, comparable to that of a traditional owner, to influence or control the licensee. LPFM Order on Recon, 15 FCC Rcd at 19244, para. 90. Here, two of the three directors of Holly USA are foreign citizens: Maria Perez Ramos who is Cuban, and Magdalena Martinez who is Honduran, Application at Parties to the Application Section (listing the citizenship of Maria Perez Ramos as “Cuba” and of Magdalena Martinez as “Honduras” and ascribing 15% of the votes of the Applicant to each). which means that 66.6 percent of the control of Holly USA is held by foreign nationals in violation of section 310(b) of the Act. Even if the Commission were to consider each of these directors as holding only 15% of the votes as Holly USA indicates in the Application, the 30 percent combined foreign ownership interest would still exceed the 20 percent statutory limit set forth in section 310(b)(3). Despite indicating that two of the Applicant’s three directors were foreign citizens, Holly USA falsely certified that no more than one-fifth of the Applicant was owned or voted by aliens. Application at Alien Ownership, question 4. We thus dismiss the Application on the basis that it also fails to comply with the foreign ownership strictures of the Act. See, e.g., Caribbean Festival Association, Inc., Letter Order, 22 FCC Rcd 19238 (MB 2007) (affirming dismissal of LPFM application where foreign nationals controlled more than 20 percent of applicant’s board in violation of section 310 of the Act). Conclusion/Actions. For the reasons set forth above, IT IS ORDERED that the application for a construction permit for a new LPFM station at Macdona, Texas, filed by Holly USA Espirit Church on December 15, 2023 (Application File No. 0000233033) IS DISMISSED pursuant to section 73.3566(a) of the Commission’s Rules. 47 CFR § 73.3566(a). While we find Holly USA to be ineligible to hold an LPFM authorization by virtue of its failure to meet the requirements of section 73.853 and its impermissible foreign ownership interest, we note that the Applicant and/or the Application may have other deficiencies as well, such as the fact that Holly USA appears to have forfeited its right to transact business in Texas for failure to pay taxes and that the mission statement submitted with the Application appears to be for an entity other than Holly USA. Sincerely, Albert Shuldiner Chief, Audio Division Media Bureau cc (by email and U.S. Mail): Maria Perez Ramos Magdalena Martinez Abel Tobias Garcia