Title
Transportation Department recommending adoption of Resolution issuing a parade permit for portions of the Rubicon Trail from the Wentworth Springs Campground and the Loon Lake Dam eastward to the Placer County line, for the 57th Annual Jeepers Jamboree from 6:00 a.m. to midnight on Thursday, July 23, 2009 and Friday, July 24, 2009, and for the 31st Annual Jeep Jamboree from 6:00 a.m. to midnight on Friday, July 31, 2009, subject to the conditions in Resolution 110-79 and in the Application for Road Closure submitted by the applicant.
Resolution 150-2009
FUNDING: None.
Body
Fiscal Impact/Change to Net County Cost: No fiscal impact or net county cost.
Background: The Jeepers Jamboree and Jeep Jamboree are traditional four wheel drive vehicle events involving a parade of vehicles along the Rubicon Trail and various activities on private property at Rubicon Springs. This year marks the 57th Jeepers Jamboree and the 31st Jeep Jamboree four wheel drive vehicle events. The sponsors seek a parade permit to allow their events to take place on the Rubicon Trail in the same manner as in the past decades.
Reason for Recommendation: The Transportation Department recommends that a parade permit be issued containing the standard conditions mandated by board resolution and prior practice for the two four wheel vehicle events described in the Title. Vehicle Code §21101(e) permits the County to adopt a resolution "temporarily closing a portion of any street for celebrations, parades, local special events, and other purposes when, in the opinion of local authorities having jurisdiction . . . the closing is necessary for the safety and protection of persons who are to use that portion of the street during the temporary closing." A parade is defined in County Ordinance Code §12.37.010 as any parade of more than 10 vehicles or twenty person proceeding on foot or otherwise upon any street, highway, road, thoroughfare or alley of the county. The two four wheel drive vehicle events fall within this definition.
The unique circumstances of the Rubicon Trail require that the use of the Trail be restricted for virtually a full day to allow the event participants to travel as a group from the beginning of the Rubicon Trail at the trail access points at either Wentworth Springs Campground or the Loon Lake Dam, through to the boundary with Placer County. The Jeepers Jamboree anticipates approximately 400 vehicles with 700 participants; the Jeep Jamboree anticipates approximately 150 vehicles with 300 participants. The parade of Jamboree vehicles can only move very slowly because of the difficulty of passage over the Rubicon Trail at over 6,000 feet elevation in the Sierra Nevada mountain range, and it is difficult for one vehicle to pass another on the Rubicon Trail, and equipment breakdowns are common. The Jamboree sponsors stage personnel and vehicles along the Trail in advance of the Jamborees so that there will be assistance available for any breakdowns or other problems experienced by Jamboree participants. These circumstances make it reasonable to restrict access by other vehicles during the Jamboree so as to allow the participants in the Jamboree to travel in an organized, continuous and uninterrupted group. This has been done every year in the past decades with no significant disruption to the use of the Trail by others. The above circumstances support a finding that a restriction prohibiting use by non-participants during the Jamborees is necessary for the protection of those persons using the Rubicon Trail as participants in the Jamborees, and also to protect other unaffiliated users who might attempt to use the Trail during the Jamborees but find their passage obstructed by Jamboree activities.
The sponsors will provide signage at the trailheads notifying other users that the Jamboree would be passing through from 6:00 a.m. to midnight, and that use of the Trail by non-participants during that time is restricted (except for emergencies). Enforcement will be provided by the Sheriff's Department at the sponsor's expense. The route of the Jamborees on the first day will be from the two trailheads easterly to the private property at Rubicon Springs. On the last day of the event, Monday, the Jamboree participants will proceed from Rubicon Springs easterly to border with Placer County and thence to Lake Tahoe. The sponsors advise that they do not feel it will be necessary to formally restrict usage on the way out.
Action to be taken following Board approval:
1. The Board Clerk needs to obtain the Chairman's signature on the Resolution.
2. The Board Clerk needs to send a fully executed copy of the Resolution to this department.
3. The usage of the portions of the Rubicon Trail described in the Resolution will be restricted to Jamboree participants from 6:00 a.m. to midnight on Thursday July 23, Friday July 24 and on Friday July 31, 2009.
Contact:James W. Ware, P. E.
Director, Department of Transportation
Concurrences: Risk Management and County Counsel