| Draft Environmental Impact Statement Shorts School Road Am Antenna Structures 22 Viewer position is the relationship that a viewer has to the view. It is evaluated as level, inferior or superior and will establish the amount of the view that a viewer will perceive. A viewer who has a superior position will see more elements in the landscape than a viewer with a level or inferior position to the proposed project. Viewer speed affects the viewer�s awareness of detail. A person resting or walking will have more awareness of detail and scale in the landscape. A motorist will be aware of less detail and experience a reduced cone of vision. Viewer distance reflects the viewer's distance from a proposed project and can be categorized into three zones. Landscape elements in the foreground (defined as the zone from 0 to 1/4 mile from the project) are characterized by a clarity of detail, color, and form. Landscape elements in the middleground (defined as the zone from 1/4 to 3 miles from the project) can be perceived to merge, such as when individual trees begin to make up a forest. Landscape elements in the background (defined as the zone from 3 miles or more from the project) lose their clarity detail and color and outlines or edges become emphasized. Endurance of view is the length of time something is viewed in the landscape. Residents of neighborhoods near a proposed project are most likely to have the longest endurance of view and be most affected by the quality of that view. Visitors of nearby parks might have views of the project for a series of hours. Motorists moving through the landscape would have the shortest endurance of view and may not notice the project if it is only perceived briefly. This, of course, will depend in part on travel route and direction of travel. Some motorists will have only glimpses and others will see it for a matter of minutes. All roads with a close, clear view of the proposed antenna site are low volume rural roads or residential collectors. Viewer Perception Viewer groups may also perceive a visual environment differently based on their own characteristics and values. Recent landscape perception research has focused on the relationship between viewer characteristics and perception. Perception studies of transmission line towers (IETPP 1996) suggest that households earning more than $50,000 per year tend to have more negative aesthetic perceptions towards transmission lines and are more likely to consider moving because of their presence. Likewise, a general study of perceptions about local unwanted land uses found that income is the best predictor of willingness to accept facilities of any kind. This study suggests that as income goes up, willingness to accept facilities goes down. The study concluded that people found to have the �Not in My Backyard� attitude tend to be male, well educated professionals, married, homeowners, and living in either large cities or the suburbs (IETPP 1996). Viewer sensitivity may vary with expectations as well. A homeowner with a substantial financial and emotional investment in a particular property can be expected to have a greater sensitivity to a view from their property, than a person who is just passing through a particular landscape. Table A.1 summarizes those sensitivities based on personal status and activity, as well as functions such as length of view. |