Of the waterfront's many attributes, its scenery is perhaps the most universally appreciated. A major component of community character is a community's scenic resources, with special landscape features and views contributing to a community's visual quality. In order to protect community character, the scenic characteristics of your waterfront and community should be considered when making planning and development decisions.

In assessing the overall visual characteristics of your waterfront, you should take a look at:

• your waterfront's physical character: its landform, vegetation, shoreline configuration, and water features
• your waterfront's cultural character: its land use, ephemeral characteristics, historic character, symbolic value/meaning, architectural character, landscape character, state of upkeep, and discordant features
• important waterfront views in your community: identify the viewshed, length and breadth of views, background, composition, and focal points

It is useful to map these features and to document views and critical scenic components through photographs.

The Division of Coastal Resources has developed a scenic assessment methodology to determine the scenic quality and embarked on a program to identify, evaluate, and recommend areas for designation as a Scenic Areas of Statewide Significance (SASS). It identifies the scenic quality of the components of coastal landscapes and evaluates them against criteria for determining aesthetic significance.

The first application of the scenic assessment methodology has been in the Hudson River Valley coastal region, where six Scenic Areas of Statewide Significance have been designated. Each area encompasses unique, highly scenic landscapes which are accessible to the public and recognized for their outstanding quality. If you are in the Hudson Valley, the information in the SASS designations will be able to help you understand your scenic resources. The approach could be easily applied in other regions and can be modified to assess scenic quality in an individual community, as has been done in East Hampton on Long Island.

When you know what you scenic resources you have, then you can ask yourself how you can improve or protect your scenic resources. Remember that scenic resources are tied to other values - the open spaces might be working agricultural landscapes, the harbors and marinas part of a working maritime waterfront, the wetlands and woodlands are important habitats and the scenic qualities combine with recreational possibilities to make the coast a prime location for vacationers and thus offer the potential for growth of the tourist industry and help make the waterfront attractive for residential and economic development. One of the challenges will be balancing these competing issues to protect scenic quality.

Although many communities have recognized the value and benefits of scenic resources, protection and management of these resources has not always been effectively accomplished. Development projects often ignore scenic issues, and individually or cumulatively degrade waterfront landforms and attractive man-made features. Impairments occur when:

• natural features and architectural details are modified
• new structures reduce or prevent views
• when the scale, form, or materials of development are not compatible with surroundings

Large scale development, whether industrial, commercial or residential, is most likely to affect aesthetic characteristics, but even a single structure can significantly impact the scenic quality of an area. Indirect impacts may result from infrastructure and activities that accompany development, such as power lines, transportation networks, bill boards and signs, and deteriorated properties - all of these may lead to reductions in scenic quality.

The most serious visual impairment occurs when development blocks the view of the water. This is especially an issue in urban areas, where the built up character of the waterfront already limits visual access. The problem also exists in more rural areas where development along the waterfront can prevent visual access to all but waterfront property owners.

Local government land use regulations are perhaps the most effective way to protect scenic resources. The location, massing and design of new waterfront development can be limited by zoning and site plan regulations. Standards that require buildings to be sited to protect views to or from the water can be adopted. When development is unavoidable in a prominent scenic location, approval by the Planning Board for site plan review, and by the Architectural Review Board should be required to maintain the existing scenic quality of the area. Guidelines for siting structures and facilities that could be included within local regulations include:

• Structures and development should be set back from public view points such as roads, parks, and especially shorelines, kept out of sight-lines to scenic views, and sited in inconspicuous locations to maintain the attractive quality of the shoreline and to retain views to and from the shore
• Structures and lots in subdivisions should be clustered or oriented to retain views, save open space, and provide visual harmony. Visual compatibility, the degree of congruity or "fit" between the visual elements of a project and the setting in which it is located, should be considered in the planning process to minimize the visual impacts of development

Existing scenic structures, especially historic structures, should be incorporated into new development so that views of and from these structures are preserved. View corridors should be incorporated into waterfront development

• Unattractive scenic elements should be removed or restored when they deteriorate or become degraded
• Original landforms and historic landscapes should be maintained or restored wherever possible
• Areas of vegetation, especially native vegetation, should be maintained or added to through scenic and conservation easements, or landscaping plans, and used to provide interest, encourage the presence of wildlife, blend structures into the site, and obscure unattractive elements, except when selective clearing creates views of coastal waters from public lands.
• As a last resort appropriate materials other than vegetation should be used to screen unattractive elements.
• Buildings and other structures should be on an appropriate scale, and use forms and materials to ensure they are compatible with and add interest to the landscape. Compatible colors and materials and sensitive design can help integrate development into the landscape.
• Light pollution of the night skies should be avoided by encouraging use of least-polluting light sources. All fixtures should be properly shielded and aimed at the ground. Municipal lighting installations for street lighting, parking lots, ball fields, etc. should comply with these standards. Improvements in lighting control regulations for localized sources should be considered and better enforced.

Another way of protecting scenic resources is the conservation of open space, natural areas and cultural resources through capital spending by federal, State, or local government, either directly or through grant programs. Partnerships with local landowners and businesses and with non profit organizations, particularly land trusts and environmental organizations, can also help communities to protect scenic resources.

As you examine your scenic resources, take a closer look at the road corridors that cross your community. Are they scenic? The New York State Scenic Byways program designates transportation corridors that are of particular statewide interest. They are representative of a region's scenic, recreational, cultural, natural, historic or archaeological significance to the State of New York. With the required corridor management plan in place, the scenic byways program can help conserve and enhance the byways underlying resources as well as encourage appropriate tourism and economic development. The U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration can also provide assistance with the federal Scenic Byways Program.