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The scenic quality rating for a roadway travel unit is a distinct score for individual views or specific features of the landscape. 'Scenic resources', as they are called, are seen from a specific location within a roadway travel unit. Tracking these changes is important because it provides a measure of how changes in land use and development over time affect these resources. The primary drivers affecting scenic quality in the Tahoe Region are land use, land and resource management activities, and the visual/aesthetic characteristics of human-made development. The TRPA Code of Ordinances specifies minimum design standards and guidelines for new development and redevelopment projects. Area plans and community plans provide specific design standards and guidelines applicable to local areas. The Scenic Quality Improvement Program, which was adopted by TRPA in 1989, identifies a host of projects that are necessary to improve scenic conditions. Every four years, a team of professionals examines and evaluates the quality of scenic resources along major roadways.
- Status
- At or Somewhat Better Than Target
- Trend
- Little or No Change
- Confidence
- High
- Overall, the views of 98% of scenic resources (203 out of 208) have been maintained or improved from baseline since adoption.
- The trend is steady with slow improvement. No scores for scenic resources decreased and the Kings Beach Commercial Core Improvement Project increased the visual quality of one scenic resource in 2019 with the addition of public art and landscaping within the center of a recently completed roadway roundabout.
- Extensive parking along the side of scenic roadways threatens the scores for 34 scenic resources. Examples include excessive roadside parking along Emerald Bay, State Route 28 along the east shore of Lake Tahoe, and roadways near Zephyr Cove and Round Hill beaches.
Roadway travel units 2019 attainment status and roadway scenic resources. Zoom in on the map and click on the scenic resource points to view photos of individual scenic resources.
- This indicator tracks changes in scenic quality of 208 specific scenic resources associated with roadway travel units. Tracking these changes is important because it provides a measure of how changes in land use and development over time affect these resources.
- The primary drivers affecting scenic quality in the Lake Tahoe Region are land use, land and resource management activities, and the visual/aesthetic characteristics of human-made development.
Example EIP Projects
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Kings Beach Commercial Core Improvement Project
Substantial reconstruction of the roadway through Kings Beach along with sidewalks, landscaping, and installation of public art in a roundabout helped bring a roadway resource into attainment in 2019.
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Liberty Utilities Pioneer Trail Undergrounding- Black Bart to Washoan.
Undergrounding of utility lines along a scenic corridor.
Local and Regional Plans
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Scenic Quality Improvement Program
The program is a comprehensive strategy for improving the overall quality of the built environment and attaining and maintaining the scenic quality goals of the Tahoe Region.
- As of 2019, 205 of the 208 roadway scenic resources met the threshold standard.
- The percentage of roadway scenic resources in attainment has remained similar from 1982 through 2019. There has been a slight decrease from 100 percent attainment in 1982 to 98.6 percent attainment in 2019. This trend would be considered little to no change.
- High. A documented, reviewed, and accepted monitoring protocol is used to guide the collection, analysis, and reporting of the scenic monitoring data. Monitoring data is collected according to procedures outlined in the 1982 Study Report for the Establishment of Environmental Threshold Carrying Capacities, and the Status and Trend Monitoring Report for Scenic Resources in the Lake Tahoe Basin, which set forth a methodology for measuring change in scenic quality over time. The methods are consistent with those used by the U.S. Forest Service and are considered standard practice. This results in a high level of confidence in the status determination.
- High. There is high confidence that there has been little to no change based on standardized, high-quality surveys.
- High
No photos available.
- Uploaded On
- 12/17/2021
- File Type
- Description