BILL NUMBER: AB 178	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  JUNE 10, 2013

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  , until January 1,
2020,  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  
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  .
   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. 
   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)  (A)    Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the
department  ,   until January 1, 2021,  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   along State Highway Route
65 within, or at exits leading to, the City of Lincoln  . 
   (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. 
   (d) The information signs  authorized in this  
section  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)   this section  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)   this
section  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.