Wanting more oversight of scenic byways, representatives pushed a bill through committee Tuesday that many fear would allow for billboards on Legacy Parkway.
State Rep. Christopher Herrod, R-Provo, sponsored HB272 to require dividing byways between scenic and non-scenic areas, as well as move all byway approvals to the Legislature.
"Scenic byways are being used to stop economic development, whether it be mining or other types of issues," Herrod said, adding scenic byway committees can designate roads for byway status and have no legislative oversight.
State Rep. Doug Aaagard, R-Kaysville, said he is concerned with the level of authority byway committees have.
His larger concern is that HB272 would open the 14-mile Legacy Parkway to billboards by splitting the road into protected scenic areas and non-scenic stretches to allow for commercial uses.
Herrod said the parkway is off-limits to billboards because of local city ordinances and a settlement agreement between environmental groups and road builders to allow for Legacy, but his assurances were disputed.
"Those billboards are fluid -- we are not protected by our own ordinances," said Woods Cross City Manager Gary Uresk, who wants to make Legacy Parkway a scenic byway.
Only state-owned land is protected from billboards under the 2005 Legacy settlement agreement, he added, even though the original compromise was worded to prohibit all billboards.
"But the billboard lobby got that changed, hence my concern," that HB272 is a way to put billboards on the Davis County roadway, Uresk said after the House Government Operations Committee meeting.
The Reagan Outdoor Advertising company gave nearly $120,000 in campaign contributions this year, according to financial disclosures, mostly in in-kind donations to legislative candidates. For years, the billboard company has been a major player at Capitol Hill.
But HB272 is about property rights, Herrod said, and would give the state more control by requiring the Legislature to review and designate recommendations made by scenic byway committees.
Reagan Outdoor Advertising president Dewey Reagan spoke of how his business was blocked from moving a billboard in Naples in Uintah County.
Although the billboard company, the city and the property owner all wanted to move the sign, Reagan said, the move was blocked by the scenic byway committee that oversees U.S. Highway 40.
"We're giving a committee authority to affect many people's lives that doesn't have legislative oversight," Herrod said.
But the Reagan billboard issue in Naples could have been easily resolved, said Rep. John Mathis, R-Vernal. Cities are allowed to ask for certain parts of scenic byways to be segmented.
Although legislators said they wanted Herrod to address their billboard concerns, they voted 5-3 to pass HB272, saying more oversight of the byway committees is needed.
The House will now consider the measure for approval.
After a highway is nominated, a scenic byway committee designates whether that road has the qualities to be a scenic byway. If a highway is designated a scenic byway, it can then apply for national scenic byway designations and receive federal funds. Under state Rep. Christopher Herrod's legislation, the Utah State Scenic Byway Committee would solely recommend roads for designation by the Legislature.
