Case Studies

Best Practices Case Studies for the 10 Visual Tenet

Each of the 10 visual tenets are supported below by relevant case studies from current scenic cities. Each city featured in the map below is a best practice’s case study that has either a platinum or gold ranking in the SCCP. Each city was selected because a programs or ordinances the city implements is considered a “best practice” according to the SCCP standards. The cities received full credit in the visual tenet they are featured for. The SCCP believed that each of the following case studies are best practices and can be used for new and reranking cities to adapt. The Scenic Cities included in the guide are displayed below in table 2.

Table 2. Featured Certified Scenic Cities

Certified Scenic City Rank Corresponding Visual Tenet

Fairview, Texas Platinum Streetscape Enhancement Benbrook Gold Parks, Trails, and Public Space McKinney, Texas Platinum Parks, Trails, and Public Space South Padre Island, Texas Gold Lighting Standards Flower Mound, Texas Gold Lighting Standards Southlake, Texas Platinum Design Integrity Friendswood, Texas Platinum Landscaping Bee Cave, Texas Platinum Sign Control Fort Worth, Texas Gold Litter and Graffiti Pearland, Texas Platinum Dumpster Screening Frisco, Texas Platinum Utility and Cable Line Dripping Springs Gold Special Programs

For each featured city, I interviewed city employees and officials to better understand the impact of implementing the ordinances, plans, or programs that allowed the cities to achieve and maintain a high level of scenic standards. During the interview, the representatives for each Scenic City discussed:

1) The specific ordinance, plan, or program language. 2) The implementation and enforcement of the ordinance plan, or program. 3) The positive impact on the community. 4) Hardships the community has encountered regarding the scenic standard. 5) Tips for communities trying to achieve similar scenic standards.

The written case studies for each visual tenet are based on the information collected during each interview. After the interviews, the representative of the Scenic City was asked to recommend sights for me to visit. At each site, I documented the featured element in action. Some cities also provided links and PDFs to resources that can be of use to cities when drafting their own scenically orientated language.