D.  SCENIC HIGHWAYS GUIDELINES
Corridor Plans for each designated Scenic Highway should be prepared in accordance with each Scenic Highway corridor's individual scenic character or concept. These Corridor Plans may be incorporated into specific plan or district plan ordinances. In the absence of such adopted Scenic Corridor Plans, the following interim guidelines are established as part of this Element:
  1. Roadway
    1. Design and alignment of a Scenic Highway roadway must include considerations of safety and capacity as well as preservation and enhancement of scenic resources. However, where a standard roadway design or roadway realignment would destroy a scenic feature or preclude visual access to a scenic feature cited in Appendix E of this Element, design alternatives must be considered through preparation of an environmental impact report.
    2. Design characteristics such as curves, changes of direction and topography which provide identity to individual Scenic Highways shall be preserved to the maximum extent feasible.

  2. Earthwork / Grading
    1. Grading for new cuts or fills shall be minimized. Angular cuts and fills shall be avoided to the maximum extent feasible.
    2. All grading shall be contoured to match with the surrounding terrain.
    3. In order to negate the environmental impacts of grading in designated Hillside Areas (as depicted on Bureau of Engineering Basic Grid Map No. A-13372), maximum effort shall be made to balance cut and fill on-site.

  3. Planting / Landscaping
    1. Fire-resistant native plants and trees shall be utilized in any parkway landscaping along Scenic Highways located within designated Hillside Areas.
    2. In designated Hillside Areas, where previous plant material has been washed away or destroyed (due to excessive rainfall, fire, grading, etc.) erosion-controlling plants shall be planted to prevent erosion and mud/land slides. Such Hillside parkways and slope easements shall either be hydro-seeded, or terraced and then planted, with native fire-resistant plants.
    3. Outstanding specimens of existing trees and plants located within the public right-of-way of a Scenic Highway shall be retained to the maximum extent feasible within the same public right-of-way.
    4. Low-growing ground cover and/or shrubs shall be utilized as parkway planting along Scenic Highways in order to avoid blocking a desirable view of a scenic feature listed in Appendix E of this Element. Plant material size at maturity as well as overall scale of plants within the landscaped area must be carefully studied in the site analysis and design stages.
    5. Landscaped medians of Scenic Highways shall not be removed. Such medians may be reduced in width (1) to accommodate left turn channelization within one hundred feet of a signalized intersection; or (2) to accommodate a designated Class II bikeway provided that there is compliance with Guideline 3c above, and that the resulting median width is not less than eight (8) feet.

  4. Signs / Outdoor Advertising
    1. Only traffic, informational, and identification signs shall be permitted within the public right-of-way of a Scenic Highway.
    2. Off-site outdoor advertising is prohibited in the public right-of-way of, and on publicly-owned land within five hundred feet of the center line of, a Scenic Highway.
    3. A standard condition for discretionary land use approvals involving parcels zoned for non-residential use located within five hundred feet of the center line of a Scenic Highway shall be compliance with the sign requirements of the CR zone.
    4. Designated Scenic Highways shall have first priority for removal of nonconforming billboards or signs. Such priority extends to properties located along, or within five hundred feet of the center line of, designated Scenic Highways.

  5. Utilities
    1. To the maximum extent feasible, all new or relocated electric, communication, and other public utility distribution facilities within five hundred feet of the center line of a Scenic Highway shall be placed underground.
    2. Where undergrounding of such utilities is not feasible, all such new or relocated tilities shall be screened to reduce their visibility from a Scenic Highway.
SCENIC BYWAYS GUIDELINES
Guidelines for Scenic Byways designated in the Community Plans should be established as part of the Community Plan Update or Revision process, with guidelines tailored to local considerations. Such guidelines may be incorporated into the Community Plan text or into a Community Design Overlay (CDO). Guidelines for scenic byway protection and/or enhancement should consider the following aspects:
  1. Roadway Design and Alignment
  2. Parkway Planting / Landscaping
  3. Signs / Outdoor Advertising Restrictions
  4. Utilities (e.g. undergrounding of new or relocated utility facilities)
  5. Opportunity for Enhanced Non-motorized Circulation

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