BILL NUMBER: AB 1495	CHAPTERED  07/20/07

	CHAPTER  119
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE  JULY 20, 2007
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR  JULY 20, 2007
	PASSED THE SENATE  JULY 9, 2007
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY  MAY 10, 2007
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MAY 7, 2007

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member La Malfa

                        FEBRUARY 23, 2007

   An act to amend Section 101.7 of the Streets and Highways Code,
relating to highways.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1495, La Malfa. Information signs for roadside businesses in
rural areas: RV-friendly symbols.
   Existing law provides that the Department of Transportation shall
have full possession and control of the state highway system.
Existing law requires the department to adopt rules and regulations
to allow the placement of information signs identifying specific
roadside businesses offering fuel, food, lodging, or camping near
exits on freeways in rural areas, and to charge a fee in that regard.

   This bill would require the department to incorporate an
"RV-friendly" symbol on a sign placed under these provisions for a
specific roadside business that requests the symbol and meets
criteria of the department relating to sufficiency of access for
recreational vehicles. The bill would require the department to adopt
rules and regulations and to charge an additional fee for placement
and maintenance of the symbol.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 101.7 of the Streets and Highways Code is
amended to read:
   101.7.  (a) The department shall adopt rules and regulations which
allow the placement near exits on freeways located in rural areas,
of information signs identifying specific roadside businesses
offering fuel, food, lodging, or camping services and which prescribe
the standards for those signs.
   (b) The department shall provide equal access to all business
applicants.
   (c) The department shall not approve the placement of any sign
within any urban area designated by the United States Bureau of the
Census as having a population of 5,000 or more.
   The department may not remove an information sign that was placed
before January 1, 2003, due solely to population growth in an urban
area that results in a population of 5,000 or more but less than
10,000.
   (d) The information signs may be placed near the freeway exits in
addition to, or in lieu of, other highway signs of the department,
but not in lieu of on-premises or off-premises highway oriented
business signs and directional signs.
   (e) The department shall establish and charge a fee to place and
maintain information signs in an amount not less than 25 percent
above its estimated cost in placing and maintaining the information
signs. The department shall annually review the amount of that fee
and revise it as necessary. Funds derived from the imposition of the
fee, after deduction of the cost to the department for the placement
and maintenance of the information signs, shall be available, upon
appropriation by the Legislature, for safety roadside rest purposes.
   (f) The department shall incorporate the use of an "RV-friendly"
symbol on an information sign placed pursuant to subdivision (a) for
a specific roadside business that meets criteria of the department
regarding sufficiency for recreational vehicles with respect to the
parking spaces and surfaces, vertical clearance, turning radius, and
entrances and exits of the facility. A specific roadside business
otherwise qualified for a sign pursuant to subdivision (a) may
qualify for and request an "RV-friendly" symbol for that sign. The
department shall adopt rules and regulations for an "RV-friendly"
symbol consistent with this section as well as the Federal Highway
Administration's Interim Approval for Addition of RV-friendly Symbol
to Specific Service Signs. The rules and regulations adopted by the
department shall include a provision for the roadside business to
acknowledge that overnight occupancy is not permitted unless the
roadside business is licensed as a special occupancy park as defined
in Section 18862.43 of the Health and Safety Code. The department
shall establish and charge an additional fee pursuant to subdivision
(e) to place and maintain the symbol.