Amended in Senate June 10, 2013

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 amended, 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 begin insert , until January 1, 2020, end insert to allow the placement of information signs begin delete within an urban area with a population of 50,000 or less if the urban area has had a highway bypass completed since 2002 end delete begin insert along State Highway Route 65 within, or at exits leading to, the City of Lincoln. The bill would also require the department to report, by January 1, 2021, to the transportation committees of the Senate and Assembly on the implementation of this provision and on its recommendations as to whether the period of this authorization should be extended, and whether the authorization should be expanded to other urban areas end insert .

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

begin delete

The

end delete

(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)  begin insert (A) end insert begin insert   end insert Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the department begin insert , until
January 1, 2021, end insert shall allow the placement of information signs
begin delete 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 delete begin insert along State
Highway Route 65 within, or at exits leading to, the City of Lincoln end insert .

begin insert

(B) On or before January 1, 2020, the department shall report
to the transportation committees of the Senate and Assembly on
the implementation of this paragraph. The report shall describe
the implementation and any benefits of. or concerns regarding,
that implementation, and shall include recommendations as to
whether or not the period of this program should be extended and
whether or not the authorization for information signs under this
section should be expanded to urban areas having a population
of 5,000 or more.

end insert

(d) The information signs begin insert authorized in this section end insert 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 begin delete subdivision (a) end delete
begin insert this section end insert 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
begin delete subdivision (a) end delete begin insert this section end insert 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.