A Fairmount Hill woman is trying to get a three-story “O” removed from the south side of Autzen Stadium.

And she’s spurred action from city of Eugene sign regulators because the university didn’t apply for a building permit before putting the sign up or for an exception that would allow the sign to be eight times larger than city zoning rules allow.

This wrestling over the big yellow “O” has gone on behind the scenes for more than a year. Fairmount Hill resident McKay Sohlberg lost in the first round in March when the Eugene planning director said the sign could stay. But Sohlberg has appealed and will take her case before a hearings officer on May 13.

The “O” sign rises like a neon moon over the tops of deciduous trees as seen from Sohlberg’s high, south-side home.

If left unchallenged, the “O” could set a precedent for future out-of-scale signs on other UO building projects, including the under-construction basketball arena, according to her initial complaint. “In a town with so much natural beauty, it seems terrible to allow one institution to dot it with branded signs.”

How big is the “O”?

“You can see the ‘O’ from on top of Spencer Butte when you hike up there,” opponent Cary Hancock said. “It’s big. It’s huge. It’s a real landmark now for better or for worse.”

The 816-square-foot “O” in question should not be confused with the 1,293-square-foot yellow “O” on the west-facing side of the Autzen Stadium scoreboard, which no one has complained about.

This isn’t the first time the university has found itself in an imbroglio over a sign. The UO has faced charges of hubris and excess for signs in Times Square in Manhattan, University of Southern California turf in Los Angeles and, most recently, on a historical landmark in Portland.

UO President Dave Frohnmayer said Tuesday that it isn’t hubris that drives the university’s controversial sign hangings. “We’re proud of our brand,” he said.

The case against the Autzen “O” began in the spring of 2008.

After receiving complaints, the city gave the university two choices: Immediately take the sign down or apply for an exception to the city sign rules and get a belated building permit and pay double permit fees as a penalty for not applying in the first place. The university won an initial round in March when the Eugene planning director ruled the sign did merit an exception to the code. But Fairmount resident Sohlberg hired an attorney and filed a next-level appeal to a hearings officer.

The hundreds of pages of documents submitted by the university and its agents to the city do not include an explanation for why the university would hang a three-story-tall sign without addressing the city’s sign code or obtaining a building permit. The UO’s sign contractor, ES&A Sign and Awning Co., is a 44-year-old company with a West Coast reach and a reputation for top-flight work, including putting up signs for Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend, Market of Choice and Hayward Field.

ES&A Sign and Awning President Kevin Jones, who is the university’s representative in the sign case, did not return calls for comment on the decision to forgo the permits.

“I don’t think there really is a good reason,” said Mike Mc­­Kerrow, Eugene land use management supervisor.

Frohnmayer said he doesn’t know exactly why the university didn’t apply for permits, but he said the Athletic Department hung the “O” on Autzen Stadium for an ESPN Game Day coverage of a Ducks football pregame. It cost $18,000.

“It’s our structure. I don’t know that anybody gave it a second thought beyond that,” Frohnmayer said.

Does the university still need the south-facing “O”?

“I don’t want to speak to that. It was certainly a very appropriate backdrop for national broadcasts twice in a single (football) season,” he said. “I personally have never seen a need to remove it.”

But Sohlberg, who has a partial view of Autzen Stadium from her deck, does.

“The huge lemon-yellow sign is a beacon on an already impressively large structure,” she wrote in a letter to the city. “I love the ‘O’ on my sweatshirt, am a Duck fan, but I don’t want to stare at this immense sign from my house. ... Just because the community likes the ‘product’ being promoted in this case, doesn’t mean that the sign should be allowed to stay.”

Sohlberg, a UO associate professor of communications disorders and sciences, declined comment for this story.

Her neighbor, Babette Jones, shares Sohlberg’s concern that the view is getting cluttered. Right now, two cranes associated with the basketball arena construction are in view.

“I certainly understand the neighbors,” she said. “They bought these homes and have nice views to look at. I don’t particularly think the ‘O’ is a nice view,” she said.

But neighbor Becky Gladstone said she can “for sure” see the “O” from her house but is not especially bothered by it. “Actually, we don’t think about it that much.”

Frohnmayer had no comment on Sohlberg’s complaint.

“I know the complainant personally. She’s a friend. I’m not going to say anything that’s going to pick a fight with people. There’s a process for resolving this and we’re in the middle of it,” he said. “I certainly don’t want to comment on the Fairmount Hill folks.”

If the hearings officer rules in favor of the university, Sohlberg can appeal the decision to the state Land Use Board of Appeals. Her attorney said it’s too soon to speculate about whether Sohlberg would mount a second appeal.

If Sohlberg wins, “Then, the sign would have to come down,” McKerrow said. “There isn’t much of a precedent. I can’t think of another case where someone installed a sign and then applied for a variance.”

The university argues that it’s entitled to a variance because its edifice is too big to regulate. The stadium complex is 72 acres. The stadium itself is 14 stories tall, according to documents submitted to the city. “The stadium holds 59,379 screaming fans during football games and is the largest stadium venue in the State of Oregon. Autzen Stadium is unique from property in the same vicinity ... ”

But attorney Meg Kieran, who’s representing Sohlberg in her appeal, said size isn’t the issue. “There’s no criteria in the code that says if you’re over a certain size the rules don’t apply.”

The Eugene City Council has not offered the university a blanket exemption to land use codes, including sign codes, she said.