City officials in southern Davis County hope they now have a tool to keep billboards off the Legacy Parkway.
Construction of the 14-mile, four-lane road has been delayed by a federal court ruling since last November, but that didn't stop a Utah Travel Council committee last month from naming the highway a Utah scenic byway.
That designation was sought by Davis County tourism officials and supported by the Davis County Commission, the Davis County Council of Governments and cities along the proposed route as a way to have more control over development in the parkway corridor.
Commercial advertisements are of particular concern among county and city officials who want to preserve the views of the Great Salt Lake, Antelope Island and the Wasatch Mountains from the roadway.
"Billboards are certainly part of it, but there's a much broader issue," said Woods Cross City Manager Gary Uresk.
"We in Davis County realize we have to have that highway for transportation purposes. But if it's built right and the cities that have jurisdiction along it work together, we can maintain a lot of the benefit that it has and ensure the plan UDOT has put together to make it a parkway and make it stand out as a little bit different from I-15."
Lawson LeGate, senior southwest regional representative for the Sierra Club, said the best way to prevent billboards on the Legacy Parkway is not to build the road. He said calling the Legacy a scenic byway is an attempt to deflect attention away from environmental damage the Sierra Club believes the road will cause.
"Remember, the first person to do this was Gov. (Mike) Leavitt when he tried to rename it the Legacy Parkway, and I think, yeah, it was an effort to put lipstick on a donkey," LeGate said. "It remains a really bad idea to build the Legacy Highway, and any kind of designation such as a scenic byway isn't going to change that fundamental fact."
Some Davis County cities already have limitations on off-site advertising along roadways, and the scenic-byways designation does not prevent businesses from placing advertisements on their own property.
Dewey Reagan, president and general manager of Reagan Outdoor Advertising, said he would understand if officials wanted to ban billboards from certain scenic segments of the parkway. But he said if businesses along the parkway are going to be allowed to put up their own signs, then outdoor advertising should be allowed in the same locations.
"If that's the case and they're doing this solely to discriminate against outdoor advertising, it's prejudiced and certainly we will fight that," Reagan said.
Designation as a scenic byway also qualifies the project for federal funds to buy and install interpretive signs and for trails along the road.
"There are a number of things you can do with the grants," said Margaret Godfrey, chairwoman of the Utah Scenic Byways and Backways Interagency Steering Committee, who was in Washington, D.C., Thursday morning for a ceremony honoring three of Utah's scenic byways.
"That's one of the main reasons for this. There's $25 million in federal grants available."
The Utah Department of Transportation already plans to build pedestrian, biking and equestrian trails along the route and has budgeted for that, said UDOT spokesman Tom Hudachko.
"All along, we've said this is going to be more than just a highway, and we think that the scenic-byways designation certainly backs us up on that," Hudachko said. "We've made a pretty serious commitment to the environment with the Legacy Nature Preserve."
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