In May 2018, Trileaf Corporation (Trileaf) performed a cultural resource inventory survey for a proposed raw land self-support tower site located at 471 Sessions Street NW,Marietta, Cobb County, Georgia, at coordinates 33°57’47.38” N, 84°33’23.08” W. The proposed lease area consists of a paved lot with a proposed access and utility easement running through an existing parking lot.
Kelly Communication Towers, LLC proposes the construction of a new monopole cell tower with a total height of 160 feet (48.8 meters). The new tower and associated equipment will be located in an irregular, pentagonal lease area of approximately 4,611 square feet (428.4 square meters). A proposed approximate 20-foot by 50-foot (6.1-meter by 15.2-meter) access and utility easement through an existing parking lot will connect the proposed lease area to Sessions Street NW to the northeast. The new tower will occupy approximately 0.15 acres (0.06 hectares) of land.
Under the direction of Trileaf, Project Archaeologist Andrew Wright, MA, RPA performed this survey in response to the planned use of the above-described parcel and the potential impacts that such use might represent to archaeological and architectural cultural resources. The Phase I cultural resource survey was designed to discover all prehistoric and historical period cultural resources that might be present within the project area. The field survey of the project area, which included a pedestrian survey and visual inspection.
As the entirety of the proposed lease area and access and utility easement was surfaced with concrete cement, no subsurface testing was possible. Trileaf found no evidence for the presence of archaeological or architectural properties in relation to the current project area or within a 30-foot (9.1-meter) boundary within the Direct APE.
Trileaf requested information concerning previously discovered archaeological sites within the Direct APE and the ½-mile APE for visual effects from the Archaeological Site File at the University of Georgia. A search of the Site File records indicated that there were five previously recorded archaeological sites (9CO121, 9CO403, 9CO491, 9CO600, and 9CO714), and 10 previously recorded archaeological surveys (1297, 2300, 2594, 2873, 6230, 6304, 7358, 7690, 8181, and 9143) located within a 1-mile research radius of the tower area.
A search of Georgia’s Natural, Archaeological, and Historic Resources Geographic Information System (GNAHRGIS 2018), the resources of the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP), and the Georgia Historic Preservation Division (GAHPD)’s archives, revealed approximately one hundred unevaluated historic resources within the ½-mile area of potential effect for visual effects. In keeping with the GAHPD’s request that unevaluated properties be field checked to determine NRHP-eligibility, these properties were assigned to eleven informal resource groups on the basis of proximity and evaluated under National Register Criterion C. Trileaf identified one such potentially eligible property, Oakton House (GAHPD #203545). During the course of field evaluation, Trileaf identified a 19th century Ruined Mill potentially eligible under Criterion D.
Trileaf identified two National Register of Historic Places (NRHP)-listed properties within the ½-mile APE for visual effects, the Church Street – Cherokee Street Historic District (NPS# 85003059) and Northwest Marietta Historic District (NPS# 75000586).
Due to intervening vegetation and topography, and distance, it is the belief of Trileaf that the proposed project would have No Adverse Effect on the character-defining attributes that make these resources eligible for listing on the NRHP and No Adverse Effect to any other architectural resource identified for this project. No NRHP-listed or eligible properties were identified within the APE for direct effects. It is therefore recommended that project clearance be granted with no further investigation or evaluation of the project area relative to these resources.
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