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Residents say tower will mar valley views and cemetery; engineers point to limited short‑duration visibility
Summary
Speakers said the tower will intrude on valley views and a 100‑year‑old cemetery even if visible only briefly; company engineers described photo simulations and balloon tests and said the lattice structure is less visually dominant than monopoles.
Residents said the proposed tower would change long‑held valley views and could be visible from cemetery grounds and key scenic corridors. Kim Harbaugh and other speakers recounted seeing the test balloon from the cemetery and asked for more representative visibility demonstrations.
Louie Hodges said the team produced bare‑earth and vegetated visibility analyses using LIDAR data and photo simulations from multiple vantage points; he acknowledged the tower projects above tree lines at limited locations but argued the lattice structure allows background imagery to show through, reducing visual dominance compared with a monopole. “We do a photo simulation of the proposed tower and what it would look like from those vantage points,” Hodges said, adding that vegetation and hillside backdrops limit the duration and extent of direct views along most road segments.
Environmental and tourism advocates urged the company to show simulations from the channel and other publicly used scenic points, arguing the town plan protects ridgelines and valley character. The applicant said it chose a lower valley location in part to avoid ridgeline impacts and that third‑party aesthetic reviews are sometimes used in the PUC process.
