NC Agricultural Tourism Directional Signage Program (NCATDSP) Study A Research Report Submitted By Joy Bhadury, PhD Erick T. Byrd, PhD Samuel P. Troy With Assistance From Angela Calvente, Kerry Radigan and Amber Smith Bryan School of Business and Economics University of North Carolina Greensboro Funding Provided By North Carolina Wine and Grape Council North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services AGRI-SIGN Research Project Final Report…. 1 Acknowledgements This study was based, in part, on personal interviews with individuals representing various organizations and their representatives. In particular, the research team expresses its gratitude to the following for giving their time to interviews conducted on behalf of this project. Daniel Adams, Division of Traffic Engineer, NC Department of Transportation Wayne Atkins, Division Operations Engineer, NC Department of Transportation Annie Baggett, Agritourism Marketing Specialist, Marketing Division, NC Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services Rick Burgess, Transportation Engineer Sr. – Highways, Virginia Department of Transportation Diane Cheyne, Sign Operations Director, Oregon Travel Experience, Salem, Oregon Ron Fish, Assistant Director - Agribusiness Development, Marketing Division, NC Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services Mark Friszolowski, General Manager and Winemaker of Childress Vineyards Jonathan Fussell, Co-Owner, Duplin Winery Scott Galloway, Transportation Technician IV, NC Department of Transportation Martha Glass, Executive Director of NC Agritourism Networking Association (former Manager Agritourism Office, Marketing Division, NC Department of Agriculture and Customer Services) Loisrea Graybill, Administrator, Pennsylvania Tourism Signing Trust Debbie Hamrick, Specialty Crops Director, North Carolina Farm Bureau Federation Amy Helton, Co-Owner Hanover Park Vineyard Chuck Johnson, Owner, Shadow Springs Vineyards Ron King, P.E., State Signing and Delineation Engineer, NC Department of Transportation Jason Newcomb, General Manager, Virginia Logos – Highway Signs Cynthia A. Norton, Agritourism Manager, Georgia Department of Agriculture Ballard “Buddy” Norwood, Chief Administrative Officer, Shelton Vineyards Danuta Pfeiffer, Pfeiffer Vineyards, Junction City, Oregon, Spokesperson for Oregon Country Trails Barbara Raffaldini, Co-owner, Raffaldini Vineyards and Winery Jerome “Jay” Raffaldini, Co-owner, Raffaldini Vineyards and Winery Charles, “Charlie” Shelton, Co-owner, Shelton Vineyards Ed Shelton, Co-owner, Shelton Vineyards Tom Slade, Director, Marketing Division, NC Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services Tom Thomas, Member - Florida Viticulture Advisory Council Jim Tresize, President, New York Wine and Grape Foundation Susan Trimpe, Director, Cascade Valley Wine Country, Washington. Steve Warner, President, Washington State Wine Commission Whit Winslow, Wine Marketing Specialist and Executive Director of the NC Wine and Grape Council, NC Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services Marek Wojciechowski, Co-owner and Winemaker, Chatham Hill Winery AGRI-SIGN Research Project Final Report…. 2 Table of Contents Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................................... 2 Table of Contents .......................................................................................................................................... 3 Executive Summary ....................................................................................................................................... 5 1. Overview of NC Agricultural Tourism Directional Signage Program ........................................................ 7 1.1 Overview ............................................................................................................................................. 7 1.2 History ................................................................................................................................................. 8 2 Current Signage Programs in NC .............................................................................................................. 10 2.1 NCATDSP Requirements.................................................................................................................... 11 2.1.1 Distance Requirements .................................................................................................................. 11 2.1.2 Operational Requirements ............................................................................................................ 11 2.1.3 Multiple Applicants for Same Sign ................................................................................................. 13 2.1.4 Program Cost.................................................................................................................................. 14 2.1.5 Permitted Terms on Signs .............................................................................................................. 14 2.2 Logos and NC Tourist-Oriented Directional Signs (TODS) Program .................................................. 17 2.3 Summary Comparison between the Three NC Highway Signage Programs ..................................... 19 3. NCATDSP: Process Description ............................................................................................................... 19 4. Benchmarking Results with Peer State Comparisons ............................................................................ 23 4.1 California ........................................................................................................................................... 23 4.2 Florida ............................................................................................................................................... 25 4.3 Georgia .............................................................................................................................................. 28 4.4 New York ........................................................................................................................................... 30 4.5 Ohio ................................................................................................................................................... 34 4.6 Oregon .............................................................................................................................................. 35 4.7 Pennsylvania ..................................................................................................................................... 40 4.8 Virginia .............................................................................................................................................. 42 4.9 Washington ....................................................................................................................................... 48 4.10 Cost Comparison ............................................................................................................................. 56 5. Conclusions and Recommendations ...................................................................................................... 61 5.1 Program Administration.................................................................................................................... 62 AGRI-SIGN Research Project Final Report…. 3 5.2 Program Regulations ......................................................................................................................... 63 5.3 Program Cost ..................................................................................................................................... 66 References .................................................................................................................................................. 69 Appendix A: Statement of Work ................................................................................................................. 71 Appendix B: Standard of Practice for Agricultural Directional Signage ...................................................... 73 Appendix C: Notice of Possible Program Changes and Department Responsibility ................................... 80 Appendix D: Agricultural Tourism Signs Application .................................................................................. 81 Appendix E – On-premise Growing Area Requirement .............................................................................. 84 Appendix F – Wording On Signs .................................................................................................................. 85 Appendix G – Cost Estimates ...................................................................................................................... 86 Appendix H – Contacts for NCDOT .............................................................................................................. 87 Appendix I - NC Logo Program .................................................................................................................... 88 Appendix J - NC TODS Program ................................................................................................................... 93 Appendix K - NC TODS Clarification ............................................................................................................ 97 AGRI-SIGN Research Project Final Report…. 4 Executive Summary