| Draft Environmental Impact Statement Shorts School Road Am Antenna Structures 42 The open views of the valley are striking and create a high vividness level. There is no visual encroachment on the mostly natural elements in the view. As a result, the intactness level of this view is high. Repeated natural elements such as the field, the trees, and the ridge create a coherent visual pattern and a high level of unity. The existing visual quality seen from Viewpoint 17 is high with a rating of 5.9. Viewpoint 18 Looking northeast from the 11th tee on Kenwanda Golf Course, Viewpoint 18 is superior to the proposed project site (Figure A.18). The golf course, a chain link fence, houses, residential landscaping and backyard storage are visible in the foreground of this view. The agricultural fields in the Snohomish River Valley, with Lord Hill beyond, are visible in the middleground from Viewpoint 18. In the background, the Cascade Mountains are visible against the skyline. Views of the Snohomish Valley and Cascade Mountains are memorable and give Viewpoint 18 a high level of vividness. The view is free from visual encroachment and has a high level of intactness. A compositional harmony is created by the repeated linear elements in this view: the house roofs in the foreground, the fields in the middleground, and Lord Hill and the mountains in the background. As a result, Viewpoint 18 has a high level of unity. The existing visual quality seen from Viewpoint 18 is high with a rating of 6.4. Viewpoint 19 Viewpoint 19 looks northwest towards the proposed project site (Figure A.19). This viewpoint represents recreational balloonists and skydivers; and so, it is superior to the proposed site. Due to the elevated orientation of Viewpoint 19, there are no foreground views. The Snohomish River Valley, with its agricultural fields, farms, houses, trees and river are visible in the middleground. The Cities of Snohomish and Everett and the Puget Sound are visible in the background. The panoramic views of the Snohomish River Valley are very memorable and create Viewpoint 19 a high level of vividness. The view is free from visual encroachment and highly intact. The panoramic nature of the view creates a coherent and visual pattern and a high level of unity. The existing visual quality seen from Viewpoint 19 is high with a rating of 7.0. 3.1.4 Impacts The following discussion describes and evaluates the visual resources under the proposed alternatives as seen from each of the 19 key viewpoints. As the visual simulations of the Preferred Alternative and Alternative II illustrate, visibility varies with distance and atmospheric conditions. At certain distances, especially greater than approximately .57 miles, the visibility of antennas begins to decrease dramatically due to the slim profiles of their revised designs (the 349-foot antenna and the seven 199-foot Antennas would be only 12 inches wide for much of the upper part, and for many viewpoints only the upper part of the tall antenna would be visible). Definition of Significance |