[Ord. No. 200, 5-20-1989]
Pursuant to the provisions of C.G.S. § 7-149a, the council may by resolution passed in accordance with this article designate town highways or portions of highways as scenic roads. No state highway or portion thereof may be designated as a scenic road under this article.
[Ord. No. 200, 5-20-1989]
The council shall consider designating as a scenic road only those town roads which are free of intensive commercial development and intensive vehicular traffic and meet at least one of the following criteria:
(1) 
It is unpaved.
(2) 
It is bordered by mature trees or stone walls.
(3) 
The traveled portion is no more than 20 feet in width.
(4) 
It offers scenic views.
(5) 
It blends naturally into the surrounding terrain.
(6) 
It parallels or crosses over brooks, streams, lakes or ponds.
[Ord. No. 200, 5-20-1989; amended 11-8-2017 by Ord. No. 286]
(a) 
When a highway is to be considered for designation as a scenic road, the council shall schedule a public hearing on the proposal. Notice of the public hearing shall be given by publishing notice of the time, place, and a brief description of the proposed action in a newspaper having general circulation in the town no fewer than 15 days before the hearing. The council shall also notify the planning and zoning commission, and by first class mail the owners of lot frontage abutting the highway or portion of a highway of the proposed designation, of the scheduled public hearing no fewer than 15 days prior to the hearing.
(b) 
Following the public hearing, the council shall vote on the proposed resolution. No highway or portion of a highway may be designated as a scenic road under this section unless the owners of a majority of lot frontage abutting the highway or portion of the highway agree to the designation by filing a written statement of approval with the town clerk. The designation shall become effective upon such date as the council shall establish.
(c) 
The scenic road designation may be rescinded by the council, using the same procedures and having the written concurrence of the owners of a majority of lot frontage abutting the highway.
[Ord. No. 200, 5-20-1989]
(a) 
No road which has been designated as a scenic road under this article shall be altered or improved, including but not limited to, widening of the right-of-way or of the traveled portion of the highway, paving, changes of grade, straightening, removal of stone walls and removal of mature trees, except for good cause determined by the council after a public hearing. The council shall state the reasons for such future alterations and improvements in its minutes.
(b) 
Nothing in this section shall be deemed to prohibit a person owning or occupying land abutting a scenic road from maintaining and repairing the land which abuts the scenic road if the maintenance or repair occurs on land not within the right-of-way, paved or unpaved, of the scenic road.