In April 2020, Trileaf Corporation (Trileaf) performed a cultural resource inventory survey for a proposed monopole communications tower located in Madison County, Royston, Georgia (Latitude: 34° 14’ 43.46” Longitude: -83° 07’ 3.85”). The project location is located within a grassed pasture and wooded area.
Verizon Wireless proposes the construction of a new monopole telecommunications tower with a total height of 154 feet (46.6 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. A proposed approximate 30 x 870-foot (9.1 x 265.2 meter) access and utility easement will travel generally south, then west to connect to Wildcat Bridge Road. Total acreage of the new construction area is approximately 0.83 acres (0.34 Hectares).
Assistant Archaeology Project Manager 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)-listed or NRHP-eligible properties were identified within the project area’s Direct APE or the ½-mile Visual APE. A review of archaeological sites and surveys, conducted through GNAHRGIS by Zach Horne, M.A., RPA on April 3, 2020, identified no previously recorded archeological sites, and one (1) survey (7876) that were identified within 1-mile of the proposed project area.
Based on a map and survey form search using the resources of the Georgia State Historic Preservation Office GNAHRGIS GIS platform, inspections of the Georgia Archaeological Site Files (GASF 2020), as well as the resources of the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) conducted by Zach Horne, Assistant Archaeology Project Manager of the Trileaf Corporation, on April 3, 2020 identified no NRHP-listed or NRHP-eligible historical resources located within the ½-mile APE for visual effects. However, two (2) GNAHRGIS historical resources (47701 and 47702) with no prior determination of NRHP-eligibility were previously identified within the ½ -mile APE for visual effects, but were included for inclusivity.
Based on these findings, Trileaf recommends No Historic Properties within the Direct APE and No Historic Properties within 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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