BILL NUMBER: AB 178	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


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