Intensive Cultural Resources Survey for the Proposed Suwanee Retail Tract, Gwinnett County, Georgia

Under contract with Acer Environmental, Inc., Brockington and Associates, Inc., conducted an intensive Phase I Cultural Resources Survey on 23 May 2007 for the proposed construction of a shopping center and retail location on the Suwanee Retail Tract in Gwinnett County, Georgia, The proposed project area, located along Peachtree Industrial Boulevard just east of Suwanee Dam Road and immediately east of an existing power plant, is irregularly shaped and encompasses 27 acres. At its longest, the project area extends approximately 420 meters in a westerly direction and approximately 300 meters south at its widest. The project area is bordered to the east by a U-Haul storage and rental facility, to the north by Peachtree Industrial Blvd, to the west by a newly paved industrial access road, and to the south by newly constructed office buildings and attached parking lots. Background research and field reconnaissance were conducted to provide potential locations of previously recorded cultural resources in the project area, provide an evaluation of National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) eligibility for all identified resources in the project corridor's area of potential effect (APE), and provide recommendations for mitigation, if avoidance of NRHP eligible resources is not possible. This survey was conducted in compliance with Section 106 of the 1966 National Historic Preservation Act (1992, as amended). A one-mile wide buffer around the proposed project area was investigated during the cultural resources literature review. No previously recorded archaeological sites or historic structures are located within the proposed project tract or its potential area of effect. No previously recorded historic structures are located within one mile of the project tract, or its area of effect. Background research and field reconnaissance determined that a good majority of the project area had been disturbed due to power line construction and several small access roads and backhoe cuts. Because there has been a fair amount of disturbance due to these activities, in the project area the potential for intact previously unidentified cultural resources is considered to be low; however, in the undisturbed sections, the potential for archaeological resources was considered to be moderate due to the existence of a small active drainage, two springs, and the existence of two ridge tops. Most of the undisturbed acreage was found to have been disturbed by natural erosion or contemporary trash disposal. It is unlikely that the proposed construction of the retail tract will impact any significant cultural resources, known or unknown, in the disturbed areas. The field survey consisted of pedestrian inspection of 27 acres of the project area, and its viewshed. Visual surface inspection and shovel testing within the tract were conducted to identify previously unrecorded archaeological sites. Shovel tests were dug at 30 meter (100 ft) intervals within transects spaced 30 meters (100 ft) apart. No archaeological resources were found within the project area. No artifacts which meet the 50 year age minimum were identified and no were recovered. Likewise, no structures meeting the 50 year age minimum were identified either in the tract or within the APE. We recommend cultural resources clearance for the undertaking.