BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 223
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CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB
223 (Dahle)
As Amended June 15, 2015
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: | 77-0 | (April 30, |SENATE: | 39-0 | (July 9, 2015) |
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Original Committee Reference: TRANS.
SUMMARY: Authorizes, until January 1, 2021, the placement of
Business Logo Signing Program signs along Interstate 80 within,
or at the exits leading to, the City of Truckee.
The Senate amendments limit the placement of business logo signs
near Truckee to incorporated areas with a population density of
less than one person per acre surrounded entirely by land of the
Tahoe National Forest.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Directs the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans)
to adopt rules and regulations for its Business Logo Signing
Program - i.e., a program to allow the placement of signs near
freeways identifying the presence of specific roadside
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businesses offering fuel, food, lodging, or 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 (except for
the City of Lincoln, as described below).
2)Prohibits the removal of business logo signs 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.
3)Authorizes a limited exception to the Business Logo Signing
Program for signs along State Route 65 within the City of
Lincoln, until January 1, 2021.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs.
COMMENTS: The Business Logo Signing Program was originally
created to provide motorists with information regarding specific
roadside businesses offering fuel, food, lodging, or camping
services alongside along Interstate 5. The program was later
expanded to rural areas generally.
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
of the freeway interchange and it must provide vehicle
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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.
Business logo signs only accommodate six logos per type of
service (i.e., food, gas, lodging or camping), and Caltrans does
not install more than one sign per type of service. 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.
Last session, the Legislature passed AB 178 (Beth Gaines),
Chapter 131, Statutes of 2013, to help the City of Lincoln. The
city's business community had been negatively impacted by the
opening of the Lincoln Bypass the year before that 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.
This bill was introduced to provide a similar, limited-time
exception to the Business Logo Signing Program for the City of
Truckee. Truckee has a population of over 16,000 and is, like
the City of Lincoln, ineligible for participation in the
Business Logo Signing Program.
Truckee's population has exceeded the rural threshold since
inception of the Business Logo Signing Program so it is not
clear why business logo signs were even authorized to begin
with. Caltrans was unable to determine why the signs were
originally placed but it did confirm that, in 2008, at least 11
business logo sign accounts in the Truckee area were closed when
the department realized the signs did not comply with the
Business Logo Signing Program guidelines related to population.
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Following removal of the business logo signs, Caltrans installed
general service signs directing traffic to exits where food,
fuel, and lodging are available but that do not display specific
business logos.
According to the author, businesses in Truckee were negatively
impacted following removal of logo signs. The author also
suggests this bill is necessary because construction of the
Truckee Bypass in 2002 has resulted in a downturn in Truckee
businesses.
Analysis Prepared by:
Janet Dawson / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093 FN:
0001190