By Bill Pike

For the first time, an application to build a cellular-telephone tower in Jefferson County has been rejected.

Citing questions about need, the Louisville Metro Planning Commission voted 7-0 last week, with three abstentions, to deny a request by Elite Electrical Contractors to build a 180-foot tower at 7201 Global Drive, at the edge of Riverport.

The commission noted that Elite had not lined up any cell-phone providers to install equipment on the tower.

"The applicant needs to establish a need," commission member Donnie Blake said.

Jack Ruf, who handles cell-tower applications for Louisville Metro Planning & Design Services, told the commission that he couldn't recall any that did not identify providers who intended to use the tower.

Ruf said he was "dubious about the speculative nature of this tower," but he said a tower could ultimately be needed in the area.

Chris Ray, who owns Elite, said cell-phone service in the area is suffering and needs to be improved. He said that he would not construct a tower without a commitment from a provider and that there are no structures or buildings in the area tall enough to serve cell-phone equipment.

"We have to go outside to use the phone," Ray said of workers at his company, which has two office-warehouse buildings and plans a third on land that includes the proposed tower site.

Michael Harris, an engineer who worked on the application, said Ray has been negotiating with a provider but declined to identify the company.

Two residents objected to the tower.

Virginia Bowles, who said it would be less than 500 feet from her back yard on Burrice Court, likened it to "a giant erector set" and said she fears that the tower would produce radiation.

Nicki Hillerich, Bowles' next-door neighbor, said the tower would raise safety issues and would be used for radio transmissions if cell-phone providers didn't use it.

Harris said the tower would not pose a safety hazard because nearby homes would be outside its "fall radius." He also said that only cellular services would use the tower.

The commission's vote marked the first time it has rejected a tower since a change in state law gave it final say on the structures in 2002. The commission has approved 10 towers.

Before the law was changed, the state Public Service Commission had final say on cell-tower applications.

Commission spokesman Andrew Melnykovych said that after the agency began handling regulation in 1988, it approved 106 towers in Jefferson County, and there was no record it ever denied an application.

Ruf said the Planning Commission had wanted about six applications denied