BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 223|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 223
Author: Dahle (R)
Amended: 6/15/15 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE TRANS. & HOUSING COMMITTEE: 11-0, 6/23/15
AYES: Beall, Cannella, Allen, Bates, Gaines, Galgiani, Leyva,
McGuire, Mendoza, Roth, Wieckowski
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 77-0, 4/30/15 (Consent) - See last page for
vote
SUBJECT: Highways: exit information signs
SOURCE: Town of Truckee
DIGEST: This bill requires Caltrans to permit the placement of
Business Logo Signing Program signs on Interstate 80 (I-80)
within, or at exits leading to, the City of Truckee, until
January 1, 2021.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Requires Caltrans to adopt rules and regulations for its
Business Logo Signing Program, which allows signs near freeway
exits in rural areas to contain information about roadside
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businesses offering fuel, food, lodging, camping services,
approved 24-hour pharmacy services, or approved attractions.
These signs display up to six business logos for applicable
businesses. Caltrans must provide equal access to all
business applicants and may not approve signs in urban areas
designated by the United States Bureau of the Census as having
a population of 5,000 or more. Caltrans may not remove an
information sign that was placed before January 1, 2003, if
the population in an urban area grew to more than 5,000 but
not less than 10,000 people.
2)Creates a limited exception to the Business Logo Signing
Program and states that Caltrans shall, through January 1,
2021, allow the placement of information signs along State
Highway Route 65 within, or at exits leading up to, the City
of Lincoln. Caltrans must also report to the Senate and
Assembly Transportation Committees before January 1, 2020, on
the implementation of the exception, and offer any
recommendations for extending the exception period and whether
or not the authorization for the Business Logo Signing Program
should be expanded to urban areas with populations of 5,000 or
more.
This bill creates another exemption by requiring Caltrans to
permit information signs to be placed on I-80 within, or at
exits leading to, the City of Truckee. The authorization in
this bill 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.
Comments
Purpose of the bill. Around 2008, Caltrans removed at least
eight business logo signs in the Truckee area following
construction of the Highway 267 bypass and, according to the
town, businesses have seen a decrease in business. AB 223 seeks
to replace those logo signs to inform travelers of businesses
that are available.
City of Lincoln exception. Last session, the Legislature passed
and the Governor signed AB 178 (Gaines, Chapter 131, Statutes of
2013) to help the City of Lincoln. The city's business
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community had been negatively impacted by the opening of the
Lincoln Bypass the year before, because it diverted traffic from
the historic downtown and its fuel and food service providers.
Lincoln is not otherwise eligible to participate in the business
logo program because its population exceeds the definition of
rural.
AB 178 established a limited exception to the Business Logo
Signing Program by allowing business logo signs along State
Route 65 until January 1, 2021 and required Caltrans to provide
a report on or before January 1, 2020. That report shall
include recommendations as to whether or not the business logo
program should be expanded, and if so, in what ways.
Why Truckee? According to the source, the Town of Truckee,
Truckee is a town deep in the Sierra Nevada Mountains,
surrounded by dense forest and national park land. This
national forest land precludes private business signage for
miles leading into the town. Truckee is a large incorporated
area with fewer than .69 people per acre (spread over 33 square
miles) and the last full-service opportunity before leaving the
state (25 miles from the next town in Nevada). The source
believes that informing drivers will assist public safety at
night or during winter driving conditions with chain
requirements and snow removal equipment.
Truckee had logo signs on I-80 until 2008 when Caltrans removed
the signs and replaced them with generic fuel, lodging, and food
signs, because the population did not meet the definition of
rural. In fact, Truckee's population never met the rural
threshold, and it is not clear why the business logo signs were
authorized to begin with. Since then, the source states that
businesses in Truckee, particularly those not located in
historic downtown, saw a significant drop in business. Some
hotels saw a 20% drop-off in bed nights, which greatly impacts
the business and town revenues.
The Lincoln exception was intended to ease the transition for
the city's businesses following the construction of the newly
opened bypass for a limited time period. The signs near Truckee
were taken down in 2008, during the great recession, more than
seven years ago. Caltrans did not merely take down existing
signs; Caltrans replaced those signs with generic blue signs
with fuel, lodging, and food symbols that provide travelers with
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information about the location of services. Additionally, the
source states that Truckee lost two major businesses, as those
businesses moved to Nevada. As a result, this bill seems less
designed to assist travelers than to help businesses in an
economically struggling town advertise in the public
right-of-way.
Related Legislation
AB 179 (Gaines, Chapter 131, Statutes of 2013) authorized a
limited exception to the Business Logo Signing Program for signs
along the State Route 65 within the City of Lincoln until
January 1, 2021.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified7/6/15)
Town of Truckee (source)
Truckee Donner Chamber of Commerce
2 Truckee business owners
OPPOSITION: (Verified7/6/15)
None received
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 77-0, 4/30/15
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Chang, Chau,
Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd,
Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia,
Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove,
Hadley, Harper, Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones,
Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low,
Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin,
Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Perea,
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Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago,
Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber,
Wilk, Williams, Wood, Atkins
NO VOTE RECORDED: Campos, Chávez, Gomez
Prepared by:Alison Dinmore / T. & H. / (916) 651-4121
7/7/15 16:21:07
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