R926-14-8. Process and Criteria for Removing the Designation of a Highway as a Scenic Byway or Segmentation of a Portion Thereof

  (1) The committee may de-designate a scenic byway if the intrinsic values for which the corridor was designated have become significantly degraded and no longer meet the requirements for which it was originally designated.

  (2) The local legislative body may remove designation on a localized segment of a designated byway if the intrinsic values within the segment have become degraded or if the segment being considered was included primarily for continuity of travel along the designated corridor, does not in and of itself contain the intrinsic values for which the corridor was designated, and the segmentation has strong community-based support.

  (3) Highways that are part of the National Highway System (NHS) are still subject to certain federal outdoor advertising regulations, regardless of their scenic byway status. When considering a de-designation or segmentation on an NHS route, either the committee or the local legislative body should become familiar with the regulatory differences between scenic byway status and NHS status, since de-designation or segmentation would not affect the ongoing applicability of NHS regulations and may not always produce the desired effect.

  (4) De-designated corridors and communities or parcels segmented out of the scenic byway designation are no longer subject to byways-related regulations and are no longer eligible for byways-related grants and promotional considerations.

  (5) Committee processes for de-designation may be initiated by the committee itself or by request from a local legislative body.

  (6) Segmentation of specific parcels or portions of a scenic byway may be considered directly by the local legislative body of a county, city, or town where the segmentation is proposed, as provided in Title 72, Chapter 4. The same public hearing requirements are followed for local legislative actions as are provided herein for committee actions.

  (7) Alternately, segmentation of specific parcels of property adjacent to a scenic byway may be requested by the property owner by submitting a written Request for Agency Action, as provided in the Administrative Procedures Act, Title 63G, Chapter 4, Part 2.

  (a) The Request for Agency Action shall contain the information required by 63G-4-201(3)(a), and shall include a statement why the owner considers the property to be non-scenic as defined in 72-4-301.

  (b) The written Request for Agency Action shall be mailed to the Office of Tourism, Film and Global Branding within the GOED, with a copy of the request mailed to the Program Development Group within the Utah Department of Transportation to the attention of Program Development.

  (c) Segmentation of property under a Request for Agency Action shall take effect 60 days after receipt of the written request by the Office of Tourism within GOED, unless the committee demonstrates to an administrative law judge within 60 days, with subsequent action by the administrative law judge, that the property fails to meet the definition of "non-scenic" as defined in 72-4-301;

  (i) Pursuant to Section 72-4-303(3)(d), "receipt" of the request for Agency Action shall be the date on which the mailed copy of the request is received by GOED's Office of Tourism.

  (ii) Requests for Agency Action shall be mailed to:

  GOED OFFICE OF TOURISM

  Attention: Scenic Byway Committee

  300 North State Street

  Council Hall/ Capitol Hill

  Salt Lake City Utah 84114

  (iii) A copy of the Request for Agency Action shall be mailed to:

  Program Development Group of the

  Utah Department of Transportation

  P.O. Box 143600

  4501 South 2700 West

  Salt Lake City Utah 84114

  (d) A request for agency action segmentation is classified as an informal adjudicative proceeding.

  (8) Requests to the committee for de-designation of state scenic byways shall be submitted by a local legislative body along or adjacent to the scenic byway corridor. Each request shall include discussion of the specific reasons for de-designation. Reasons may include, but are not limited to:

  (a) segment or corridor is no longer consistent with the state's criteria for selection as a scenic byway;

  (b) failure to have maintained or enhanced intrinsic values for which the scenic byway was designated;

  (c) degradation of the intrinsic values for which the scenic byway was selected;

  (d) segment of byway is not representative of the intrinsic values for which the scenic byway was designated and was included primarily for connectivity; or

  (e) state scenic byway designation has become a liability to the corridor.

  (9) Local legislative bodies shall inform the committee and UDOT Program Development of their action to segment within 30 days of the date of the action to segment. The local legislative body shall include the discussion of the specific reasons for segmenting. Reasons may include, but are not limited to those identified in R926-14-8(7)(a) through (e).

  (10) Parcels on existing byways may not be segmented out of a byway solely for the purpose of evading state and federal regulations pertaining to byway designation, but must also be considered non-scenic or otherwise meet the criteria listed in Paragraph (7). However, towns, cities, and counties may remove themselves entirely for any purpose, as provided in Title 72, Chapter 4.

  (11) State and federal highway regulations require that no regulated outdoor advertising be located within 500 feet of a designated scenic area. Therefore, the size of any parcel or parcels being considered for segmentation would need to be large enough to meet that offset requirement.

  (12) Upon receipt of the local legislative body's action to segment, the committee chair will add the action to the agenda of the next committee meeting.

  (13) The local legislative body shall provide the committee the following information at the next committee meeting:

  (a) the date of segmentation, being the day the local legislative body took action on the request to segment;

  (b) the defined limits of the segmented portion of the scenic byway, including route and milepost details and definitions;

  (c) the approved meeting minutes from the public meeting(s); and

  (d) a copy of the signed resolution from the local legislative body.

  (14) After the responsible legislative body has heard and denied a request to segment a state scenic byway, the denial can be appealed to the committee. The appeal must include information regarding the public hearings, minutes of the hearings, including names and addresses of people making comments, a detailed summary of comments made, and proof of public notification.

  (15) Following discussion of the request or appeal, the committee will vote on the request for de-designation or appeal of the denial of segmentation. The committee will then forward the result of the vote to the requesting local legislative body or appealing party. For segmentation denial appeals heard by the committee and for de-designation actions, the date of approval by the committee is considered the official date of the segmentation or de-designation, for the intent and purpose of how it affects byway program eligibility and subjection to byway regulations.

  (16) Upon approval or disapproval of a de-designation or segmentation request or decision on appeal, the acting body, whether the committee or the local legislative body, shall notify the Utah Office of Tourism, the department and other interested agencies of the action taken.

  (a) In the case of approval of a de-designation or segmentation, the acting body will make a request to these agencies that they modify reference of the segment, to reflect the change in scenic byway status, on maps and in materials and website applications identifying scenic byways.

  (b) In the case where the committee approves the de-designation of a scenic byway that had also been designated as a National Scenic Byway, the committee will inform the National Scenic Byway Program of the decision and make a request to the NSBP that they modify reference of the segment, to reflect the change in scenic byway status, on maps and in materials and website applications identifying scenic byways.

  (c) In the case of a local legislative action on a segmentation request, the local legislative body shall also notify the committee and the local byway coordinator of the action taken. For segmentation requests heard by a local legislative body, the date of approval by the local legislative body is considered the official date of the segmentation, for the intent and purpose of how it affects byway program eligibility and subjection to byway regulations.

  (17) Appeals to the committee concerning local legislative actions are handled as provided in Title 72, Chapter 4.

  (18) Upon receiving notification of segmentation or de-designation, the department shall amend Rule 926-13 to update the description of the byway to reflect the approved changes. The department shall forward to the NSBP any changes that would have a substantive effect on online maps, brochures, or other publications of the NSBP. The department will also show substantive changes on the official highway map at its next printing.