California Assembly Bill AB2559 Amended / Bill

 BILL NUMBER: AB 2559AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 13, 2016 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 18, 2016 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Frazier FEBRUARY 19, 2016 An act to add Section  229.261   101.16  to the Streets and Highways Code, relating to highways. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 2559, as amended, Frazier.  Tourist-oriented directional signs: visitor centers.   Visitor centers: guide signs.   Existing law requires the Department of Transportation to adopt rules and regulations that allow the placement, near exits on freeways located in rural areas, of information signs identifying specific roadside businesses that offer fuel, food, lodging, camping services, approved 24-hour pharmacy services, or approved attractions, and that prescribe the standards for those signs. Existing law also authorizes the department, among other things, to place and maintain, or cause to be placed and maintained, signs on state highways directing motorists to communities within the geographical boundaries of a city, county, or city and county if specified conditions are satisfied.   This bill would require the department to authorize guide signs for any visitor's center seeking a sign if the visitor center is located within 2 miles from the highway intersection.   Existing law authorizes the Department of Transportation to administer a program for the placement of tourist-oriented directional signs for businesses, attractions, or facilities near state highways in nonurbanized areas. Existing law specifies various requirements for placement of these signs, including that the maximum distance from a highway intersection to an attraction or facility may generally not exceed 10 miles, but may not exceed 3 miles in the case of food or lodging facilities.   This bill would require the department to authorize under these provisions tourist-oriented directional signs for any visitor's center seeking a sign if the visitor center is located within 2 miles from the highway intersection and that authorization otherwise meets the requirements of these provisions.  Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:  SECTION   1   .   Section 101.16 is added to the   Streets and Highways Code   , to read:   101.16. Notwithstanding Section 21401 of the Vehicle Code, the department shall authorize guide signs for any visitor's center seeking a sign if the visitor center is located within two miles from the highway intersection.   SECTION 1.   Section 229.261 is added to the Streets and Highways Code, to read: 229.261. The department shall authorize under this chapter tourist-oriented directional signs for any visitor's center seeking a sign if the visitor center is located within two miles from the highway intersection and that authorization otherwise meets the requirements of this chapter.