Local Business to Receive Fines for Sideshow Violations

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UPDATE 8/12/2017:

In all fairness, I am posting the actual citation sent by a member of the Evans family. While the event did violate the conditions of the permit, the violations cited do not accurately reflect the information I was given by the County or how it was characterized.

The citation given was for:

Parking not limited to approved areas specified on temporary use permit
Vehicles parked along West 6th Street and M Street
Event attendance exceeded 100 in violation of temporary use permit

The total amount of the citation was $490. Again, not nearly as severe as I understood it to be.

I apologize for the confusion this may have caused.

Last weekend (8/5/17), Evans Towing at 6715 West 6th Street held what they called a “legal” sideshow. The event was permitted by Sacramento County with numerous conditions.

Sacramento County officials now say that Evans Towing disregarded nearly every condition on the permit and will be receiving a very large fine from Sacramento County Code Enforcement today.

After the initial event was held in June, neighborhood residents bristled at the news that another event would be held in August. To their credit, Evans Towing did get a “Use permit” from the County less than 72 hours before the event was to be held. Some of the conditions on the permit included

There shall be no loudspeaker music above the ambient noise level of adjacent public streets.
Parking shall only be permitted in the parking area depicted on Exhibit A and at the designated overflow lot located at 6951 W. 6th Street.
There shall be no racing or burnouts permitted in any area aside from the area depicted on Exhibit A. Signage to this effect shall be posted at all exits.
There shall be no alcohol consumption permitted during the event. Signs to this effect shall be posted in conspicuous locations.
Event occupancy shall not exceed 100 people.
Obtain any required electrical permits from the Building Permits and Inspection Division of the Community Development Department and call for inspection prior to opening.
Sanitary facilities shall be present on-site and in working condition and are subject to approval of the Environmental Management Department.
Litter shall be picked up on an ongoing basis during the event. Trash receptacles should not be overflowing. All trash shall be removed from the site each evening of the event.
Contact the Fire Marshal of the local Fire District for inspection before opening.
Contact the Sheriff’s Department to determine if event will require on site security.

Code Enforcement was on site during the event and took many notes.

The most egregious violations were for attendance and parking. People parked all over West 6th Street when the overflow parking was full. The overflow parking was full because it’s estimated that over 1000 people attended the event. Well above the 100 that were allowed on the permit.

In many photos and videos posted to social media, you can also see overflowing trash cans, people drinking alcohol, food being sold without permits or health inspections, and at least one physical altercation. It’s unknown if the required inspections were ever made. It’s unlikely, as I was told that they “disregarded nearly every condition of the permit”.

During the event, the six CHP units on scene handed out 70 traffic violations, made one arrest and impounded 5 vehicles.

County Planning will be informing Evans Towing that the next request for a use permit will be denied outright.

The County has never been in this situation before; There’s never been a request for an event like this before, in an appropriately zoned site particularly one so close to rural homes. The default position of planning is to approve events unless there’s a specific reason not to. Until now, Evans Towing had not amassed a history of code violations. The violations received this week will disqualify them from receiving a permit in the future.

Future options for the event include

Take the event to a racetrack
Convert the property to a racetrack (Costly, in both time and money, subject to the County planning process)
Seek a festival permit (Very costly, not often awarded)

They could also choose to hold another event illegally. A meeting is taking place today (within the County government) to create a contingency plan for such an occurrence. Punitive options include even higher fines, and a possible impact on the business license. Law Enforcement will be prepped to shut a non-permitted event down.