Scenic Quality Ratings for Roadway Travel Units (Scenic Resources)
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
Average Scenic Quality Rating Scores by Year for Roadway Travel Units (Scenic Resources)
Download the scenic viewpoints ratings table from Tahoe Open Data, and explore the code used to create the chart on GitHub.
Evaluation Map
Roadway travel units 2023 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.
2023 Evaluation
- Status
- At or Somewhat Better Than Target
- Trend
- Little or No Change
- Confidence
- High
Applicable Standard
SR1: Maintain or improve the numerical rating assigned each unit, including the scenic quality rating of the individual resources within each unit, as recorded in the Scenic Resources Inventory for Scenic Quality Ratings for Roadway Travel Units (Table 13-3 of the Draft Study Report)
Key Points
- Overall, the views of 98 percent 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 or increased since the 2019 evaluation.
- 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.
About the Threshold
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. In resources that are forested, drivers such as fire and insect/disease could also affect the visual/aesthetic characteristics.
Delivering and Measuring Success
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.
Local and Regional Plans
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Linking Tahoe Corridor Plan: SR 89 Corridor Management Plan
The plan includes a parking management system to control roadside parking through the SR 89 corridor including Emerald Bay.
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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.
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SR 28 Corridor Parking Management Plan
This plan addresses roadside parking issues along the east shore of Lake Tahoe.
Rationale Details
- At or Somewhat Better Than Target. As of 2023, 205 of the 208 roadway scenic resources met the threshold standard.
- Little or No Change. The percentage of roadway scenic resources in attainment has remained similar from 1982 through 2023. There has been a slight decrease from 100 percent attainment in 1982 to 98.6 percent attainment in 2023. This trend would be considered little to no change.
Confidence Details
- 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 USDA 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.
Additional Figures and Resources
No photos available.
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