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Cellular phone tower debate continues
■Two opponents urge the
owner of a proposed tower site
to reconsider renting the
property to Verizon Wireless
By Kara Cogswell
Oregon Daily Emerald
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 offi
cial surprised many when she re
versed 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-Ja
cobs, 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 cel
lular 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 Veri
zon approval is upheld, Adams-Ja
cobs said, because Sprint will need
to submit an application for a vari
ance to the zoning ordinance in ad
dition 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 business
es 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 Av
enue, 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 let
ter 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 sup
port 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 ac
tivist who has been publicizing
Sprint’s interest iri the site for
months, said he expects that if the
company representatives try to build
the tower when the majority of stu
dents 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 wire
less services on campus.
And Mellin said Sprint is also look
ing 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-con
suming process, “it’s not something
that’s taken lightly,” he said.
As of now, there are two cell tow
ers located on campus — one be
longing to Qwest and one belonging
to Voicestream Wireless — on the
top of Prince Lucien Campbell Hall,
said Dave Barta, the manager of Uni
versity Telecom Services.
Despite requests from many cellu
lar 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 com
panies, he said, are trying to anticipate
the future needs of the campus rather
than the existing ones.
Wisconsin and Utah
Only 2,500 tickets will be available for the Wisconsin and Utah games, so
students should act quickly. 6,099 tickets will be available for the remaining
games. Students enrolled for fall 2001 classes can pick up one ticket for each
game at the ticket offices located in the EMU or Casanova Center. Student
tickets are funded through student incidental fees. Any remaining students tickets
will become available to students to purchase for their friends and family the
week before game day.
The ticket release schedule for the remainder of the season
Student Tickets
available beginning
August 20,2001
Opponent
use
Stanford
Arizona State
Oregon State
Game Date
September 22, 2001
October 20, 2001
November 3. 2001
December 1. 2001
Ticket Release Date
September 10, 2001
October 8, 2001
October 22. 2001
November 19. 2001
• For more information students should contact the Duck Ticket Office at (541) 346-4461 or the ASUO at (541) 346-3724 •
Oregon Daily Emerald
_P.O. Box 3159, Eugene OR 97403
The Oregon Daily Emerald is published daily Monday through Friday during
the school year and Tuesday and Thursday during the summer by the Oregon
Daily Emerald Publishing Co. Inc., at the University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon.
A member of the Associated Press, the Emerald operates independently of the
University with offices in Suite 300 of the Erb Memorial Union. The Emerald is
private property. The unlawful removal or use of papers is prosecutable by law.
NEWSROOM — (S4nU6-SS11
Editor in chief: Andrew Adams
Associate editors: Peter Hockaday, Jeremy Lang
Reporters: Kara Cogswell
Copy editor: Katie Mayer
Online editor: Carol Rink
Design editor: Russ Weller
Photo editor: Jessie Swimeley
BUSINESS — (541)346-5512
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John Long, Jeff Neely, Teal Fleming, distribution.
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