In March 2019, Trileaf Corporation (Trileaf) performed a cultural resource inventory survey for a proposed monopole tower telecommunication facility located in Oconee County, Watkinsville, Georgia (33° 49’ 0.00” Longitude: -83° 21’ 30.14”). The project location is located within a wooded area.
Verizon Wireless proposes the construction of a new monopole cell tower with a total height of 199 feet (60.7 meters). The new tower and associated equipment will be situated within a proposed approximate 100 x 100-foot (30.5 x 30.5 meter) cell tower lease area. Additionally, a proposed approximate 30 x 75-foot (9.1 x 22.9 meter) access and utility easement will travel south-southwest over an existing gravel drive linking the lease area to Kirkland Road. Total acreage of the new construction area is approximately 0.28 acres (0.11 Hectares).
Senior Project Archaeologist Zach Horne, M.A., RPA, under the direction of Trileaf, 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, shovel testing, and visual inspection, found no evidence for the presence of archaeological or architectural properties in relation to the current project area’s Direct APE. Additionally, no National Register of Historic Places (NRHP)-eligible or listed properties were identified within the project areas Direct APE. Based on a map and survey form search using the resources of the Georgia State Historic Preservation Office including topographical maps and their GNAHRGIS GIS platform, inspections of the Georgia Archaeological Site Files (GASF 2019), as well as the resources of the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) conducted by Zach Horne, Senior Project Archaeologist of the Trileaf Corporation and
Kevin McHugh, CEO of Architectural Research LLC, there were eight (8) architectural resources (334/103542, 339/103762, 340, 341/104299, 342, 343, 103905, and 103136) with no NRHP determination of eligibility identified within the ½-mile APE for visual effects, and two (2) archaeological sites (9OC57 and 9OC58), and two (2) archaeological surveys (10209 and 10506) previously identified within Trileaf Corporation’s 1-mile background research radius. However, the Georgia State Historic Preservation Office has identified and mapped these resources, none possess the exceptional attributes that would make them NRHP-eligible.
Based on these findings, Trileaf recommends No Historic Properties in both the Direct APE and the ½-mile Visual APE. It is therefore recommended that project clearance be granted with no further investigation or evaluation of the project area relative to those resources.
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