Minnesota Session Laws - 2005, Regular Session

                            CHAPTER 120-H.F.No. 1164 
                  An act relating to traffic regulations; providing 
                  eligibility criteria for business panels on logo sign 
                  panels; clarifying duty of driver when passing parked 
                  emergency vehicle; authorizing issuance of citation 
                  within four hours after violation; amending Minnesota 
                  Statutes 2004, sections 160.80, subdivision 1a; 
                  169.18, subdivision 11. 
        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
           Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 160.80, 
        subdivision 1a, is amended to read: 
           Subd. 1a.  [ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA FOR BUSINESS PANELS.] (a) 
        To be eligible for a business panel on a logo sign panel, a 
        business establishment must: 
           (1) be open for business; 
           (2) have a sign on site that both identifies the business 
        and is visible to motorists; 
           (3) be open to everyone, regardless of race, religion, 
        color, age, sex, national origin, creed, marital status, sexual 
        orientation, or disability; 
           (4) not impose a cover charge or otherwise require 
        customers to purchase additional products or services; and 
           (5) meet the appropriate criteria in paragraphs (b) to (e). 
           (b) Gas businesses must provide vehicle services including 
        fuel and oil; restroom facilities and drinking water; 
        continuous, staffed operation at least 12 hours a day, seven 
        days a week; and public access to a telephone. 
           (c) Food businesses must serve at least two meals a day 
        during normal mealtimes of breakfast, lunch, and dinner; provide 
        a continuous, staffed food service operation at least ten hours 
        a day, seven days a week except holidays as defined in section 
        645.44, subdivision 5, and except as provided for seasonal food 
        service businesses; provide seating capacity for at least 20 
        people; serve meals prepared on the premises; and possess any 
        required state or local licensing or approval.  Reheated, 
        prepackaged, ready-to-eat food is not "food prepared on the 
        premises."  Seasonal food service businesses must provide a 
        continuous, staffed food service operation at least ten hours a 
        day, seven days a week, during their months of operation. 
           (d) Lodging businesses must include sleeping 
        accommodations, provide public access to a telephone, and 
        possess any required state or local licensing or approval. 
           (e) Camping businesses must include sites for camping, 
        include parking accommodations for each campsite, provide 
        sanitary facilities and drinking water, and possess any required 
        state or local licensing or approval. 
           (f) Businesses that do not meet the appropriate criteria in 
        paragraphs (b) to (e) but that have a signed lease as of January 
        1, 1998, may retain the business panel until December 31, 2005, 
        or until they withdraw from the program, whichever occurs first, 
        provided they continue to meet the criteria in effect in the 
        department's contract with the logo sign vendor on August 1, 
        1995.  After December 31, 2005, or after withdrawing from the 
        program, a business must meet the appropriate criteria in 
        paragraphs (a) to (e) to qualify for a business panel. 
           (g) Seasonal businesses must indicate to motorists when 
        they are open for business by either putting the full months of 
        operation directly on the business panel or by having a "closed" 
        plaque applied to the business panel when the business is closed 
        for the season. 
           (h) The maximum distance that an eligible business in 
        Anoka, Carver, Dakota, Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott, or Washington 
        county can be located from the interchange is:  for gas 
        businesses, one mile; for food businesses, two miles; for 
        lodging businesses, three miles; and for camping businesses, ten 
        miles. 
           (i) The maximum distance that an eligible business in any 
        other county can be located from the interchange shall not 
        exceed 15 miles in either direction. 
           (j) Logo sign panels must be erected so that motorists 
        approaching an interchange view the panels in the following 
        order:  camping, lodging, food, gas. 
           (k) If there is insufficient space on a logo sign panel to 
        display all eligible businesses for a specific type of service, 
        the businesses closest to the interchange have priority over 
        businesses farther away from the interchange. 
           Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 169.18, 
        subdivision 11, is amended to read: 
           Subd. 11.  [PASSING PARKED EMERGENCY VEHICLE; CITATION; 
        PROBABLE CAUSE.] (a) When approaching and before passing an 
        authorized emergency vehicle with its emergency lights activated 
        that is parked or otherwise stopped on or next to a street or 
        highway having two or more lanes in the same direction, the 
        driver of a vehicle shall safely move the vehicle to a the lane 
        farthest away from the emergency vehicle, if it is possible to 
        do so. 
           (b) When approaching and before passing an authorized 
        emergency vehicle with its emergency lights activated that is 
        parked or otherwise stopped on or next to a street or highway 
        having more than two lanes in the same direction, the driver of 
        a vehicle shall safely move the vehicle so as to leave a full 
        lane vacant between the driver and any lane in which the 
        emergency vehicle is completely or partially parked or otherwise 
        stopped, if it is possible to do so. 
           (c) A peace officer may issue a citation to the driver of a 
        motor vehicle if the peace officer has probable cause to believe 
        that the driver has operated the vehicle in violation of this 
        subdivision within the four-hour period following the 
        termination of the incident or a receipt of a report under 
        paragraph (d).  The citation may be issued even though the 
        violation was not committed in the presence of the peace officer.
           (d) Although probable cause may be otherwise satisfied by 
        other evidentiary elements or factors, probable cause is 
        sufficient for purposes of this subdivision when the person 
        cited is operating the vehicle described by a member of the crew 
        of an authorized emergency vehicle responding to an incident in 
        a timely report of the violation of this subdivision, which 
        includes a description of the vehicle used to commit the offense 
        and the vehicle's license plate number.  For the purposes of 
        issuance of a citation under paragraph (c), "timely" means that 
        the report must be made within a four-hour period following the 
        termination of the incident. 
           Sec. 3.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
           Sections 1 and 2 are effective the day following final 
        enactment. 
           Presented to the governor May 24, 2005 
           Signed by the governor May 26, 2005, 8:45 p.m.