Introduction

About Scenic Texas and the Scenic City Certification Program

Scenic Texas is a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization that’s mission is to preserve and enhance the state of Texas’s visual environment. Scenic Texas and the 17 partners administer the Scenic City Certification Program (SCCP) to work towards our vision:

We believe in a Texas with exemplary visual standards alongside roadways and enhanced streetscapes that provide better quality of life for citizens and visitors.

The SCCP began in 2010 with 13 certified cities. Eleven years later in 2021, there are 85 certified cities in Texas. 1 The program has grown immensely through additional participating Certified Scenic Cities, partners, and in prominence. Becoming a Certified Scenic City is beneficial to a city and its residents in many ways. The SCCP can be used as a tool for Texas cities that intend to create highquality and thoughtful ordinances, plans, and programs through local municipalities. Certified Scenic Cities are recognized by the program for establishing strong infrastructural standards related to public roadways and public spaces. A primary goal of the SCCP is to help establish a foundation of cohesive scenic standards across Texas that promote sustainability through environmental conservation, economic management, and sense of place. The SCCP is also committed to developing a network of Certified Scenic Cities that may collaborate and improve by working together to share ideas and progress.

The SCCP Mission

The mission of the Scenic City Certification Program is to support and recognize Texas municipalities that implement high-quality scenic standards for public roadways and spaces. The Scenic City Certification Program provides a proven, highly regarded tool to Texas cities for assessment, evaluation, and recognition of infrastructure standards.

1 https://sceniccitycertification.org/certified-cities

Why should your city apply to become a Certified Scenic City?

Any Texas municipality is eligible and encouraged to apply to be a Certified Scenic City. A Certified Scenic City benefits from the program and certification in numerous ways. The application submission and review processes provide an objective third-party evaluation of a city’s existing standards. The process also forms a continual review and analysis of a city’s development plans as a city up-ranks and recertifies. There is also opportunity to educate citizens on the positive impact comprehensive local policies can create. Finally, economic development efforts are also strengthened through a Scenic City Certification.

The program’s application process is designed to create a platform for cities to work with Scenic Texas to improve or create strong and strategically worded ordinances, plans and programs that will yield in the most beneficial outcomes for an area. The SCCP helps cities to act in protecting the visual qualities that make each city in Texas unique. Strong city ordinances and programs also help to preserve the sense of place for the human and wildlife inhabitants, as well as the existing landscapes. As Texas experiences major growth in many parts of the state, it is critical that our cities can maintain equity and character during development and expansion.

The SCCP specifically requires existing ordinance and program language in the application to ensure the language will effectively translate into actions that protect and enhance your community. An applicant city will receive feedback on the language that is submitted and then have a period to consider the feedback before the final application is due. This allows improvement beginning with the first application from a city. A city’s improvement is the most important achievement to the SCCP.

Becoming a Certified Scenic City also connects your city to a network of other cities around Texas through a unified vision. Certified Scenic Cities municipalities can connect and learn together to help promote scenic standards across the region. To encourage cross city collaboration, this Scenic City Certification Program Best Practices Resource Guide is intended to be a resource for new and recertifying applicants. Many Certified Scenic Cities will use existing ordinance language from highly ranked cities to further develop their own set of ordinances. In addition to connecting with a group of other Texas cities that prioritize the promotion of scenic standards, Certified Scenic Cities also can connect with Scenic Texas’s 17 SCCP program partners.

The assessment of a city is points-based. There is a total of 338 points available for a city to earn by implementing a variety of scenically and environmentally themed ordinances, plans, and programs. Based on the total points a city receives determines what rank a city earns. There are five possible ranks: Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze, or Recognized. Once a city receives a rank, they are eligible to rank up. It is common for cities to rank up after connecting with other Certified Scenic Cities to gain a better understanding of well-written ordinance language.

Please refer to the Certified Scenic City Program Application Guidelines for more information on how to apply to become a Certified Scenic City: https://sceniccitycertification.org/resource

An individual can support Scenic Texas’s mission to fight visual pollution by becoming a Scenic Texas Annual Member: https://www.scenictexas.org/donate

Marble Falls, Texas