Cell tower would be 75-feet tall, disguised as evergreen tree
AT&T wants to build a 75-foot-tall cellphone tower adjacent to a Eugene, Ore., church, but local residents and officials are pushing back against the carrier’s capital ambitions.
The wrangling has been going on four weeks and involves AT&T, a North Carolina public policy research organization and the Crossfire Ministries Church in Eugene. Crossfire owns the land AT&T is eyeing for the tower build, but the Wake Forest, N.C.,-based Center for Municipal Solutions reports AT&T hasn’t proved the tower is even necessary.
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According to the local Register-Guard, the Center for Municipal Solutions found that: “Based on the information provided, the technical need for a 75-foot-tall support structure, to the exclusion of all reasonable alternatives, has not been demonstrated by clear, convincing and/or verifiable evidence.”
AT&T plans to make the tower look like an evergreen tree.
The next step is a public hearing on the plan set for May 27 where city officials will rule on the plan, according to the Register-Guard.
Eugene resident William Collinge told the local paper the Center for Municipal Solutions report “validates our position that a cell tower at this particular location is a bad idea for many reasons.”
Detractors recently flew a red helium balloon at the 75-foot mark to help visualize the tower’s visual impact.
“We want everyone to be informed about the visual impacts,” Collinge said.
Crossfire Ministries Pastor Aaron Taylor said the goal is “what’s best for the overall community. It’s not us against them. And if they can prove that [the tower] is not good in some way, they should have the right to do that.”
