BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE BILL NO: ab 178
SENATOR MARK DESAULNIER, CHAIRMAN AUTHOR: Beth Gaines
VERSION: 1/24/13
Analysis by: Mark Stivers FISCAL: yes
Hearing date: June 4, 2013
SUBJECT:
Business logo signs
DESCRIPTION:
This bill requires the Department of Transportation to allow the
placement of business logo signs in an urban area with a
population 50,000 or less if the urban area has had a highway
bypass completed since 2002.
ANALYSIS:
Pursuant to existing law, the Department of Transportation
(Caltrans) administers the Business Logo Signing Program to
place information signs identifying specific roadside businesses
offering fuel, food, lodging, camping services, approved 24-hour
pharmacy services, or approved attractions near exits on
freeways located in rural areas. Any business whose primary and
principal source of revenue is the sale of goods, products, or
services that fall within the service categories and that meets
criteria established in regulation may participate in the
program. Caltrans charges per logo a $100 annual permit fee, a
$250 annual rental fee, and additional installation and service
fees as required. Current law provides that Caltrans may not
place a new sign in an urban area designated by the United
States Census Bureau as having a population of 5,000 or more.
This bill requires Caltrans to allow the placement of business
logo signs in an urban area designated by the United States
Census Bureau as having a population 50,000 or less if the urban
area has had a highway bypass completed since 2002.
COMMENTS:
1.Purpose of the bill . According to the author, this bill is
intended to assist communities, such as Lincoln, where
businesses have been negatively impacted by the recent opening
AB 178 (BETH GAINES) Page 2
of a bypass. A bypass diverts traffic from a historic
downtown and its fuel and food service providers, but if the
city has a population of more than 5000, it currently cannot
participate in the Business Logo Signing Program.
2.Precedent and proliferation of signs . The Business Logo
Signing Program is intended to help travelers find services in
rural areas, where not all exits provide services. In larger
towns and cities, like Lincoln, it is assumed that travelers
know that almost all exits have services. As a result, this
bill seems less designed to assist travelers than to help
businesses advertise in the public right of way. In addition,
this bill is likely to set a precedent for other non-rural
cities without bypasses to seek similar treatment, because
their businesses would equally benefit from highway
advertising. There does not seem to be much policy rationale
for using the existence of a recent or future bypass as a
threshold for allowing business logo signs. Ultimately,
expanding the business logo program will result in more
highway signage. The proliferation of signs has often been of
concern to the committee because it adds to driver distraction
and dilutes attention to highway safety signs. The committee
may wish to consider whether this bill is consistent with the
intent of the business logo program and whether it will lead
to further expansions of the program and an unsafe
proliferation of signs.
3.Six is the limit . Business logo signs can accommodate only
six logos, and Caltrans does not install more than one sign
per type of service (i.e., food, gas, lodging). To address
situations in which there are more qualified applicants than
available logo spaces, Caltrans has developed a priority
system. For lodging and camping signs, Caltrans prioritizes
businesses that are closest to the highway. For food and fuel
signs, priority is based on a point system that values
proximity to the highway and longer hours of operation. In
such situations, some businesses are left off the signs and
suffer a competitive disadvantage. These situations are more
likely to occur in larger cities that this bill covers where
more businesses are likely to exist. As a result, this bill
may inadvertently insert government into the competitive
market by giving some businesses an advertising advantage.
4.Not just author's district . This bill affects not just
Lincoln but any city with a population of less than 50,000
where a highway bypass has been constructed in the last decade
AB 178 (BETH GAINES) Page 3
or is in the works. The bill would thus apply to Brawley,
Willits, Los Banos, Amador, and Angel's Camp.
Assembly Votes:
Floor: 76-0
Appr: 17-0
Trans: 16-0
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the committee before noon on
Wednesday, May 29,
2013.)
SUPPORT: League of California Cities
Lincoln Area Chamber of Commerce
OPPOSED: None received.