BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 178
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Date of Hearing: April 8, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Bonnie Lowenthal, Chair
AB 178 (Gaines) - As Introduced: January 24, 2013
SUBJECT : Freeway signs: business logo program
SUMMARY : Expands the California Department of Transportation's
(Caltrans') business logo program from rural areas (with
populations to under 5,000) to more urban areas with populations
up to 50,000 but only if the urban area has had a highway bypass
completed since 2002.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Directs Caltrans to adopt rules and regulations that allow the
placement near freeways identifying the presence of specific
roadside businesses offering food, lodging, camping services,
approved 24-hour pharmacy services, or specific approved
attractions, under the following conditions:
a) All business applicants must have equal access to the
program; and,
b) Caltrans is prohibited from placing business logo signs
within urban areas designated by the United State Bureau of
Census as having a population of 5,000 or more.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : The business logo program was originally created to
provide motorists with information regarding specific roadside
businesses offering gas, food, lodging, or camping services
alongside rural areas and to include 24-hour pharmacies specific
attractions.
Implementing regulations promulgated by Caltrans set forth
criteria for businesses to be included in the program. For
example, gas stations must meet the following criteria:
1)The business must be generally neat, clean, and have a
comfortable appearance and an adequate scope of services.
2)For gas stations, a business must be located within one mile
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of the freeway interchange and it must provide vehicle
services, including fuel, oil, tire repair, battery, and
radiator water. It must also provide public restrooms, water
fountains, and telephones and it must be open for a specified
number of hours per day.
According to the author, this bill is intended to help
communities such as Lincoln, whose business community has been
negatively impacted by the opening of the Lincoln Bypass last
year. The bypass diverts traffic from the historic downtown and
its fuel and food service providers. Lincoln is not eligible to
participate in the business logo program because its population
exceeds the definition of rural.
Application of this bill's provisions will be limited to small
urban communities for which a bypass has been completed after
2002. Currently, there are only a handful of bypasses that have
recently been constructed, are being developed, or are being
considered in a small urban areas for which these provisions
might apply, for example, bypasses in Brawley, Willits, Los
Banos, Amador, and Angels Camp.
Previous legislation :
AB 1257 (Chandler), Chapter 560, Statutes of 1992, expanded the
business logo program beyond rural areas alongside of Interstate
5 to other rural areas of California.
SB 599 (Knight), of 1997, would have required Caltrans to allow
business logo signs in areas with populations larger than 5,000
if the city submits a written request to the department for such
placement. The bill failed passage in the Senate Transportation
Committee.
AB 1923 (Dickerson), Chapter 576, Statutes of 2002, was
originally introduced to expand the business logo program to
areas up to 15,000. The bill was subsequently amended, and
eventually signed to prohibit Caltrans from taking down business
logo signs in areas with populations that exceeded 5,000 but did
not exceed 10,000.
AB 1495 (La Malfa), Chapter 119, Statutes of 2007, requires
Caltrans to incorporate an "RV-friendly" symbol in the business
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logo program.
SB 377 (Aanestad), Chapter 378, Statutes of 2008, requires
Caltrans to adopt rules and regulations adding 24-hour pharmacy
services and specified categories of approved attractions to the
business logo program.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
League of California Cities
Lincoln Area Chamber of Commerce
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Janet Dawson / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093