BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �






           SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE       BILL NO: acr 117
          SENATOR MARK DESAULNIER, CHAIRMAN              AUTHOR:  ting
                                                         VERSION: 5/28/14
          Analysis by:  Eric Thronson                    FISCAL:  yes
          Hearing date:  June 10, 2014

          SUBJECT:

          Encroachment permit for a memorial in San Francisco

          DESCRIPTION:

          This resolution requests the Department of Transportation  
          (Caltrans) to issue an encroachment permit, without charge, to  
          enable an appropriate party to place a memorial within the  
          right-of-way of State Route 35 in San Francisco.

          ANALYSIS:

          Existing law requires Caltrans to maintain and operate state  
          highways, including monuments and plaques placed in the highway  
          right-of-way.  An encroachment permit allows someone other than  
          Caltrans to conduct activities, including installing permitted  
          structures, in the highway right-of-way.  Caltrans issues  
          encroachment permits for the installation of billboards,  
          mailboxes, fences, monuments, and other structures.

          According to its Encroachment Permits Manual (EPM), Caltrans may  
          issue encroachment permits without charge in two instances.  The  
          EPM states that public corporations, such as state and municipal  
          governments, are exempt from paying encroachment permit fees.   
          Alternatively, Caltrans administratively waives some  
          encroachment permit fees for particular markers, such as:

                 Adopt-A Highway Program signs
                 United States and California State Flags
                 Locally-funded project identification signs
                 Native American Tribal Developments signs
                 Memorial/historical plaques and Blue Star memorial  
               highway markers authorized by legislative resolution

           This resolution  : 

                 Requests Caltrans to issue an encroachment permit,  
               without charge, to enable an appropriate party to place a  
               memorial in memory of Hanren Chang within the vicinity of  




          ACR 117 (TING)                                         Page 2

                                                                       


               the pedestrian beacon between Vale Avenue and Forest View  
               Drive in the right-of-way of State Route 35 in San  
               Francisco.
                 Requires that the design and placement of the marquee be  
               consistent with Caltrans standards.
                 Requires that funding for the memorial be from non-state  
               funds.




          COMMENTS:

           1.Purpose  .  According to the author, the purpose of this  
            resolution is to request Caltrans to issue a permit to allow  
            the installation of a memorial plaque dedicated to the memory  
            of Lowell High School student Hanren Chang.

           2.Background  .  On the evening of her seventeenth birthday, March  
            2, 2013, a drunk driver struck and killed Lowell High School  
            student Hanren Chang on Sloat Boulevard near Forest View Drive  
            in San Francisco.  The tragic circumstances of her death  
            heightened public awareness of the number of pedestrian  
            fatalities along Sloat Boulevard and across San Francisco.  As  
            a result, the city has installed a number of pedestrian safety  
            features near the area of the incident, including a newly  
            erected pedestrian crossing beacon at the intersection of  
            Sloat Boulevard and Forest View Drive.  

            The author's office reports that a private party wishes to  
            dedicate the pedestrian crossing beacon in memory of Hanren  
            Chang and affix a memorial plaque.  This resolution will allow  
            Caltrans to provide an encroachment permit for this purpose  
            without charge.

          Assembly Votes:

               Floor:    75-0
               Appr: 17-0
               Trans:    15-0

          POSITIONS:  (Communicated to the Committee before noon on  
          Wednesday,
                     June 4, 2014)

               SUPPORT:  None received.




          ACR 117 (TING)                                         Page 3

                                                                       


          
               OPPOSED:  None received.