105 IAC 7-4-21 - Scenic byways

Authority: IC 8-23-2-6; IC 8-23-20-25

Affected: IC 8-23-20

Sec. 21.

(a) As of July 1, 2018, the current national and state scenic byways in Indiana include:

(1) Historic National Road;

(2) Indiana's Historic Pathways;

(3) Lincoln Highway Scenic Byway;

(4) Historic Michigan Road Scenic Byway;

(5) Ohio River Scenic Byway;

(6) Wabash River Scenic Byway;

(7) Whitewater Canal Scenic Byway; and

(8) Whitewater Canal Scenic Byway Loop Routes.

The department shall maintain a list of scenic byways designated by the state of Indiana on the Internet at www.in.gov/indot/2827.htm.

(b) The designation of each of the state and national scenic byways set forth in subsection (a)(1) through (a)(8) is hereby ratified and confirmed by the department. The process for nominating and designating a scenic byway in Indiana includes the following steps:

(1) A locally organized sponsor may submit an application to the department to nominate a particular road or combination of roads to become a scenic byway. The application of this local organized sponsor shall be in form and substance satisfactory to the department, and should highlight the following specific intrinsic qualities that are applicable:

(A) Scenic beauty.

(B) Natural qualities.

(C) Historical significance.

(D) Cultural significance.

(E) Recreational significance.

(F) Archeological importance.

(2) Each application submitted to the department for review and approval shall be forwarded to the state scenic byway advisory committee, which was established by an interagency agreement in 1997, and consists of one (1) representative from each of the following entities:

(A) Department of natural resources.

(B) Indiana office of tourism development.

(C) Association of Indiana Counties.

(D) Accelerate Indiana Municipalities.

(E) The Indiana division of the Federal Highway Administration.

(F) The department.

This committee determines if one (1) or more of the specific intrinsic qualities in subdivision (1) are applicable to this specific road or combination of roads. If the new scenic byway is approved by the state scenic byway advisory committee, then the application and this approval document is forwarded to the commissioner of the department and to the lieutenant governor of Indiana for their review of the application. If the commissioner and the lieutenant governor of Indiana approve this application, the new scenic byway is designated for the road or combination of roads described in the designation.

(3) The department may submit any state scenic byway to the Federal Highway Administration, which may designate it as a national scenic byway.

(c) When any Indiana road or portion thereof has been nominated by the appropriate local organized sponsor to be designated as a scenic byway, the department will send a written notice of the scenic byway nomination and pending designation to:

(1) all applicants with pending permit applications for any sign to be erected adjacent to the portion of the road that is nominated to become a scenic byway;

(2) all permittees for whom a permit has been granted within the past three hundred sixty-five (365) days for any sign to be erected adjacent to the portion of the road that is nominated to become a scenic byway;

(3) all applicants with pending permit applications for any sign to be erected adjacent to any control route, which sign would be visible from the main-traveled way of the nominated road; and

(4) all permittees for whom a permit has been granted within the past three hundred sixty-five (365) days for any sign to be erected adjacent to any control route, which sign would be visible from the main-traveled way of the nominated road.

(d) When any Indiana road, or portion thereof, has been nominated for designation as a scenic byway:

(1) the department shall suspend consideration of all pending applications for permits covering any sign to be erected on any control route, if the sign would be visible from the main-traveled way of that scenic byway, until such time as the nomination for designation has been approved or denied, unless the applicant and the department enter into an agreement, which will allow for a permit to be issued;

(2) signs shall not be erected adjacent to that scenic byway, except for signs more particularly described in 23 U.S.C. 131(c)(1) through 23 U.S.C. 131(c)(5)*, effective as of July 1, 2018;

(3) signs shall not be erected adjacent to any other control route, except for signs more particularly described in 23 U.S.C. 131(c)(1) through 23 U.S.C. 131(c)(5)*, effective as of July 1, 2018, if any such sign would be visible from the main-traveled way of that scenic byway; and

(4) any sign that would be adjacent to the scenic byway and any other sign that would be visible from the main-traveled way of the scenic byway for which a permit was granted prior to nomination of the road to be designated as a scenic byway, but which sign, in either case, has not been erected and completed as of the date the road is designated as a scenic byway:

(A) the permit for such sign shall be automatically revoked; and

(B) must be removed at the expense of the sign owner and the owner of the real estate upon which the sign is located. The department shall provide just compensation to the sign owner when a substantial effort has been made in the erection of a structure at the time of the scenic byway designation.

(e) Existing conforming signs adjacent to any road as of the date that such road is designated as a scenic byway shall continue to be conforming signs.

(f) The department may exclude from proposed designation as a scenic byway (or remove from any existing scenic byway) any segment or segments of any Indiana road in a zoned commercial or industrial area determined by the department to be inconsistent with the designation of a scenic byway, if:

(1) an interested party makes a written request to the department to consider exclusion of a particular segment of an Indiana road that meets the test for exclusion from proposed designation as a scenic byway, or removal of that segment from an existing scenic byway;

(2) the department makes a determination under subsection (g) that segmentation should occur; and

(3) each of the entities listed in subsection (h)(1) through (h)(3) approve this proposed segmentation.

(g) The department's consideration of segmentation under subsection (f) will result in the department's determination that a particular segment of an Indiana road should be excluded from the proposed scenic byway or removed from an existing scenic byway, if, in the department's reasonable discretion, a predominance of the following conditions are present:

(1) That segment is zoned for industrial or commercial use, the department agrees with that local zoning determination, and the department further determines that this segment shall not constitute spot zoning or strip zoning.

(2) That segment contains seventy-five percent (75%) or more of ongoing commercial or industrial activities in a zoned commercial or industrial area in both directions for one thousand (1,000) feet from the outer edges of the proposed segment, and those commercial or industrial activities are visible from the main-traveled way of that roadway.

(3) That segment does not contain the following intrinsic qualities for which the scenic byway has been or will be designated on either side of the roadway:

(A) Scenic beauty.

(B) Natural qualities.

(C) Historical significance.

(D) Cultural significance.

(E) Recreational significance.

(F) Archeological importance.

(4) That segment is not part of an approved plan for any local, state, or federal improvements to the proposed or existing scenic byway, including island or street landscape development, tree planting, lighting, or other visual improvements to the area.

(5) The department has determined that this segment is inconsistent with the designation of that scenic byway.

(h) Whenever the department determines that a particular segment of an Indiana road should be excluded from the proposed scenic byway or removed from the existing scenic byway, the following shall occur:

(1) The written request of the interested party in subsection (f)(1), together with the department's determination, shall be submitted for approval by the appropriate local organized sponsor that nominated the specific scenic byway for which a specific segmentation is proposed.

(2) If the exclusion of such segment from that scenic byway has been approved by the local organized sponsor, that approval shall be submitted, together with the documentation in subdivision (1), to the state scenic byway advisory committee for its approval.

(3) If the exclusion of such segment from that scenic byway has been approved by the state scenic byway committee and if it is a federally designated scenic byway, that approval shall be submitted, together with the documentation in subdivisions (1) and (2), to the Federal Highway Administration for its approval.

(i) No sign may be erected within any excluded segmented area of a scenic byway if it is still visible from the scenic byway.

*This document is incorporated by reference and refers to the law effective as of July 1, 2018. Copies may be obtained from the Government Publishing Office, www.govinfo.gov, or are available for review at the Indiana Department of Transportation, Office of Legal Counsel, Indiana Government Center North, 100 North Senate Avenue, Seventh Floor, Indianapolis, Indiana 46204.

Notes

105 IAC 7-4-21

Filed 7/24/2019, 8:08 a.m.: 20190821-IR-105170337FRA