BILL NUMBER: AB 223 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 166
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE AUGUST 11, 2015
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR AUGUST 11, 2015
PASSED THE SENATE JULY 9, 2015
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY JULY 13, 2015
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 15, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Dahle
FEBRUARY 3, 2015
An act to amend Section 101.7 of the Streets and Highways Code,
relating to highways.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 223, Dahle. 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 generally prohibits the department
from approving the placement of any sign within any urban area with a
population of 5,000 or more. However existing law also requires the
department, until January 1, 2021, to allow the placement of
information signs along State Highway Route 65 within, or at exits
leading to, the City of Lincoln, and requires the department to
report, by January 1, 2020, 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.
This bill would additionally require the department, until January
1, 2021, to allow the placement of information signs along
Interstate 80 within, or at exits leading to, the City of Truckee, as
specified.
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.
(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 along
State Highway Route 65 within, or at exits leading to, the City of
Lincoln and along Interstate 80 within, or at exits leading to, the
City of Truckee.
(B) The authorization in this paragraph with respect to
information signs along Interstate 80 within, or at exits leading to,
the City of Truckee, shall apply only to incorporated areas with a
population density of less than one person per acre surrounded
entirely by land of the Tahoe National Forest.
(C) 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 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 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.