In June 2020, Trileaf Corporation (Trileaf) performed a cultural resource inventory survey for a proposed monopole communications tower located in Haralson County, Buchanan, Georgia (Latitude: 33° 51’ 31.03” Longitude: -85° 07’ 21.82”). The project location is located within a wooded area.
Verizon Wireless proposes the construction of a new monopole telecommunications tower with a total height of 161 feet (49.1 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 150-foot (9.1 x 45.7 meter) access and utility easement will travel generally north away from the lease area towards Ben Davis Road. Total acreage of the new construction area is approximately 0.33 acres (0.13 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, 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 June 12, 2020 identified no NRHP-listed or NRHP-eligible historical resources located within the ½-mile APE for visual effects. In a letter dated June 15, 2020 form Senior Planner Kevin McAuliff of the Northwest Georgia Regional Commission stated the Haralson County Tax Assessor’s website identified six (6) historical properties (623 Roy Dean Road, 575 Roy Dean Road, 20 Maple Ridge Lane, 701 Friendship Church Road, 66 Maple Ridge Lane, 565 Roy Dean Road) with no prior determination of eligibility, but were included for inclusivity. A review of archaeological sites and surveys, conducted through GNAHRGIS by Zach Horne, M.A., RPA on June 12, 2020, identified no previously recorded archeological sites, and no previously recorded archaeological surveys that were identified within 1-mile of the proposed project area.
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.