As the battle continues regarding where and whether cellular
phone towers belong within city limits, University students may
soon find themselves very close to the center of the storm.
Last week, a Eugene hearings official surprised many when she
reversed an earlier recommendation by Eugene Planning Director
Jan Childs to bar Verizon Wireless from building an 80-foot
cellular phone tower on Franklin Boulevard.
“We were shocked,” said Don Knight, a local businessman who
owns property near the site. “We were 90 percent sure it was
going to be turned down.”
The proposed Verizon site is in the parking lot of the Travelodge
Motel, located on Garden Avenue, a side street of Franklin
Boulevard just opposite the University.
Even closer to campus, Sprint is still looking into erecting a tower
near the intersection of 15th Avenue and Villard Street, adjacent to
the new law school housing complex and less than a block away
from the Bean residence hall.
Earlier this year, Sprint contacted the city about a proposal to build
a 120-foot tower on the site, but the cellular phone company has
not yet submitted an application to build the tower, said Shawna
Adams-Jacobs, a city planner.
In July, a spokesman for Sprint said the company was waiting to
see what the outcome would be in the Verizon decision before
filing an application, because of a city zoning ordinance that
requires 2000 feet separating cellular phone towers.
Now that a decision has been reached, Sprint spokesman Dave
Mellin confirmed the cellular phone company still hopes to build a
tower on the Villard site.
“We are going to go ahead and move forward with the zoning
process,” he said.
The application process will be more difficult for Sprint if the
Verizon approval is upheld, Adams-Jacobs said, because Sprint
will need to submit an application for a variance to the zoning
ordinance in addition to an application for a land use permit.
Variance criteria are generally hard to meet, she added.
Near the Verizon site, there are a number of homes and small
businesses that would fall within 200 feet of the tower. Many of
those who live and work there are protesting the proposal.
Knight, who owns Onsen, a hot tub rental company on Garden
Avenue, and Daphne Ruff, who owns the property nearby, have
been among the most outspoken of the neighborhood critics.
Earlier this week, the two sent a letter to Ted Braatz, the owner of
the Barron’s Travelodge, asking him to change his mind about
renting the property to Verizon, Knight said.
He is optimistic that Braatz will back out of the deal under pressure
from his neighbors, he said, but in case he does not, they also
plan to file an appeal with the state Land Use Board of Appeals.
Knight argues that the tower will detract from the appearance of
the neighborhood and will devalue his property.
Other opponents of the proposal argue that cellular phone towers
pose possible health risks. But there is no conclusive evidence to
support those claims.
Regardless of the outcome of the appeal on the Verizon decision,
there is likely to be opposition to the Sprint tower if that application
is approved as well.
Zach Vishanoff, a community activist who has been publicizing
Sprint’s interest in the site for months, said he expects that if the
company representatives try to build the tower when the majority of
students are in town, they will face strong opposition to their plans.
“The Villard site has very little chance of going up,” he said. “I think
you can count on two or three times as much opposition” as to the
Verizon proposal.
But according to the cellular phone companies, heavy use of cell
phones by University students is part of the reason why new
towers are necessary.
Verizon has said it wants to build the tower to improve digital
wireless services on campus.
And Mellin said Sprint is also looking to build the tower because of
user demands. The area surrounding the Villard lot is considered
a “capacity site,” he said, meaning wireless phones are used
heavily in the area.
Because building a cellular phone tower is an expensive and
time-consuming process, “it’s not something that’s taken lightly,”
he said.
As of now, there are two cell towers located on campus — one
belonging to Qwest and one belonging to Voicestream Wireless —
on the top of Prince Lucien Campbell Hall, said Dave Barta, the
manager of University Telecom Services.
Despite requests from many cellular phone companies, the
University has no plans to put up another tower on PLC, Barta
said. And, he added, he has not received any indication that
cellular phone coverage on campus is inadequate. The cellular
phone companies, he said, are trying to anticipate the future
needs of the campus rather than the existing ones.