| Draft Environmental Impact Statement Shorts School Road Am Antenna Structures 33 Mountains. To the north, there are open vistas down the main Snohomish River Valley that include the City of Snohomish. Lighting Evening views from the Lord Hill area include residential lights from the Kenwanda neighborhood to the west and the Cathcart Hill area to southwest. Lights from the City of Snohomish, and the City of Everett are visible to varying degrees from different locations on Lord Hill. Red, blinking lights from the existing KRKO Antenna to the northwest, and a PUD tower to the southwest are visible as well as single red lights from the Snohomish River Bridge and from the Everett area, both to the north. Snohomish Valley Floor The upper Snohomish Valley floor is an agricultural landscape with a rural character. Typical visual elements on the valley floor include farm houses and equipment, agricultural fields (often with crops and stands of trees), roads, telephone poles, infrequent street lights, and the Snohomish River. To the north and northeast, views from the valley floor include the cities of Everett and Snohomish, including two existing radio antenna, and the Cascade Mountains. Views to the east and west include Fiddler�s Bluff, Cathcart Hill, and Lord Hill. To the south, Mt. Rainier is visible on clear days. The valley floor can be categorized as both open and rural. According to WSDOT�s visual classification system, �In the open landscape, sky and sweeping views prevail in a landscape of few or no trees, including prairie, steppe, desert, and agricultural fields. The rural landscape is characterized by intermixed built and natural or naturalized elements, with built elements beginning to encroach on the natural environment� (WSDOT 1996). Craven Farms, Deb�s U-Cut, and Zylstra Farm are the nearest neighbors to the proposed project site on the upper Snohomish Valley floor. Craven Farms, located to the southeast across Shorts School Road, is an �agro-tourism� establishment that rents its �unique country setting,� with views of open fields and the Cascade Mountains, for weddings and other social events. Craven Farms also holds a series of antique and local produce markets, as well as offering hay rides, a U-pick pumpkin patch, and a baby farm animal petting zoo (Craven Farm Website 2003). Deb�s U-Cut, located adjacent to the proposed project to south, grows and sells Christmas trees. During field studies conducted in July 2003, it was noted that this property was for sale. Zylstra Farm, located to the south of the proposed project, grows crops and provides pay-for-access to the Snohomish River on its private road for commercial gravel hauling and local sport fishermen. Each of these properties on the valley floor have unobstructed views of the surrounding agricultural fields. Views of the Snohomish foothills and the Cascade Mountains, including Mt. Baker, are available to the northeast. Lord Hill is visible to the east, northeast, and southeast. To the west, the Kenwanda neighborhood and Cathcart area are visible. The City of Snohomish is visible in the distance to the north; and, on clear days, and Mt. Rainier is visible in the south. Lighting Evening views from the valley floor include residential lights from the Kenwanda neighborhood to the west, the Cathcart Hill area to southwest, and the Lord Hill neighborhood to the east. Lights from the City of Everett and the Snohomish area to the north, the City of Monroe to |