BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                     AB 223


                                                                    Page  1


          CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS


          AB  
          223 (Dahle)


          As Amended  June 15, 2015


          Majority vote


           -------------------------------------------------------------------- 
          |ASSEMBLY:  | 77-0 | (April 30,    |SENATE: | 39-0 | (July 9, 2015)  |
          |           |      |2015)          |        |      |                 |
          |           |      |               |        |      |                 |
          |           |      |               |        |      |                 |
           -------------------------------------------------------------------- 


          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  








                                                                     AB 223


                                                                    Page  2


            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  








                                                                     AB 223


                                                                    Page  3


            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.   








                                                                     AB 223


                                                                    Page  4


          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