PaleoWest Archaeology (PaleoWest) conducted a cultural resource assessment on behalf of the AquAeTer, Inc. (AquAeTer) for the proposed expansion of East Point—Grid Georgia communications tower located at 3331 Dodson Drive Connector, Atlanta, Fulton County (33.665277, -84.473101). PaleoWest also conducted a post-construction assessment of potential effects for visual effects.
The need for a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) permit makes this project a federal undertaking requiring compliance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, which necessitates an evaluation of the tower’s impact on historic properties. PaleoWest conducted a cultural resource assessment survey and is submitting this document in compliance with the Nationwide Programmatic Agreement for Review of Effects on Historic Properties for Certain Undertakings Approved by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC 2004).
The assessment of communications towers must take into consideration the area of potential effects for direct effects (Direct APE) and the area of potential effects for visual effects (Visual APE). The overall height of the monopole is 185 feet with all appurtenances. The visual APE is a 0.5-mile (0.8-kilometer [km]) radius around 33.665277, -84.473101. The proposed Direct APE includes an approximately 17-foot by 12-foot 7-inch compound expansion. Because the compound was previously constructed and was not previously tested, subsurface testing within the compound is not possible.
PaleoWest conducted this cultural resource assessment survey to identify any historic properties (cultural resources that are listed in or eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places) that could potentially be impacted by the proposed tower. PaleoWest carried out archival work, conducted in the office of the Georgia Historic Preservation Division, on March 15, 2019 and fieldwork on March 18, 2019. The combination of archival research and fieldwork identified no archaeological sites and one NRHP district within the Visual APE. There are no resources previously identified within the APE for Direct Effects.
The Visual APE overlaps the western portion of the NRHP-listed College Park Historic District. The neighborhood is hilly and wooded, obscuring the view of the tower throughout the District. This report contains eighteen photographs facing the tower, and the tower is not visible from seventeen photographs. There is only one location within the NRHP district where the tower is visible. The tower is visible at this location because the tower and photo location are within a cleared power line corridor. Introduction of the tower created no change in character of the property’s setting that contributes to its historical significance. The tower did not introduce a visual element that diminished the integrity of the property’s significant historic features.
Therefore, PaleoWest recommends a finding of no adverse effect to historic properties within the APE for visual effects, with an overall finding of no historic properties adversely affected by the proposed project. We recommend no further cultural resource work for the proposed project.
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