California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 178

Introduced by Assembly Member Beth Gaines

January 24, 2013

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

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 178, as introduced, Beth Gaines. Highways: exit information signs.

Existing law requires the Department of Transportation to adopt rules and regulations that allow the placement, near exits on freeways in rural areas, of information signs identifying specific roadside businesses. Existing law prohibits the department from approving the placement of any sign within any urban area with a population of 5,000 or more.

This bill would require the department to allow the placement of information signs within an urban area with a population of 50,000 or less if the urban area has had a highway bypass completed since 2002.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

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
that allow the placement, near exits on freeways located in rural
areas, of information signs identifying specific roadside businesses
offering fuel, food, lodging, camping services, approved 24-hour
pharmacy services, or approved attractions, and that prescribe the
standards for those signs.

(b) The department shall provide equal access to all business
applicants.

(c)  begin delete The end delete begin insert (1) end insert begin insert   end insert begin insert (A) end insert begin insert   end insert begin insert Except as provided in paragraph (2), the end insert
department shall not approve the placement of begin delete any end delete begin insert a end insert sign within
begin delete any end delete begin insert an end insert urban area designated by the United States Bureau of the
Census as having a population of 5,000 or more.

The

begin insert (B) end insert begin insert   end insert begin insert The end insert 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.

begin insert

(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the department shall allow
the placement of information signs within an urban area designated
by the United States Bureau of the Census as having a population
of 50,000 or less if the urban area has had a highway bypass
completed since 2002.

end insert

(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.

(g) The department shall develop rules and regulations governing
signs for approved attractions, which shall include amusement
parks, botanical and zoological facilities, business districts and
main street communities, education centers, golf courses, historical
sites, museums, religious sites, resorts, ski areas, marinas, “u-pick”
farms and orchards, farmers’ markets, and wineries, viticulture
areas, and vineyards.