UPDATE Advocates for preserving the flavor of historic Cabbagetown are not eager to see a cell tower placed on the grounds of the Fulton Cotton Mill. The Oakland section of Atlanta, GA has been placed on the Historic Register. As Saporta Reports notes, the same voices that fought against a CitySwitch suggestion to place a cell pole in the nearby cemetery are now up in arms about a proposal that could place a 70 foot antenna within CSX’s Hulsey Yard railway freight facility.
An unnamed consultant for CSX hastened to reassure doubters that a cell tower at that site would have “no adverse impacts” on the visual impact and historic nature of the train yard. Although this proposed site is only 1,100 feet away from the cemetery site, the suggested 70-foot tower is much lower than the 166-foot tower that CitySwitch originally envisioned for the cemetery location.
CSX spokesperson Sheriee Bowman described the structure as a “repeater” that would be used to help conduct railroad activities in Hulsey Yard. This structure would look similar to a telephone pole, said CSX. It was also noted that this tower proposal is intended for rail yard use only and is not meant to be a replacement or repositioning of the tower originally proposed by CitySwitch.
Prior to any construction beginning, the project is being scrutinized by “Section 106 review.” The report will study the possible impact of a cell tower and its compliance with the federal Historic Preservation Act of 1966. State level agencies in Georgia will also have the chance to weigh in.
“What we’re very hopeful for,” David Yoakley Mitchell, Executive Director of the Atlanta Preservation Center told Saporta Reports, “Is [that] this will not in any way conflict or obstruct the historic fabric within which it finds itself being used.”
Reader Interactions