City planners have denied Sprint PCS’ application to build a 120-foot cell phone tower near campus at 1400 Villard Ave.
The company has 12 days to appeal, and spokesman Ron Meckler said the company hasn’t decided whether to fight the decision or submit a new application.
Planners nixed the proposal for three reasons: conflicts with an existing tower, proximity to University graduate housing and a lack of supporting documents proving that all other sites in the campus area are unusable.
Eugene senior planner Teresa Bishow denied Sprint’s application after receiving more than 190 public comments and notified local residents Wednesday.
Lead planner Kent Kulby said Sprint had other options available.
“They could have found a better location on the site,” Kulby said, adding that the proposed tower was 15 feet from the property where graduate students live.
Kulby said Sprint did not conclusively show a 120-foot tower to be necessary. The city has historically refused to site large towers in town. Verizon’s tower was denied last year and was only approved after the company agreed to shrink it to 80 feet.
Sprint has been trying to get a tower constructed in the campus area for the past several months. There are currently no locations available for siting on campus, University planner David Barta said. Barta has been working closely with the company to find a site on campus to give students better cell phone reception.