The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink About2020-117- Resolution RESOLUTION NO. 2020-117 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF RANCHO CUCAMONGA, CALIFORNIA, DESIGNATING THE CITY MANAGER AND THE POLICE CHIEF AS THE PUBLIC OFFICIALS AUTHORIZED TO TEMPORARILY CLOSE STREETS FOR CELEBRATIONS, PARADES, LOCAL SPECIAL EVENTS, AND OTHER PURPOSES PURSUANT TO VEHICLE CODE SECTION 21101(e) A. Recitals 1. California Vehicle Code Section 21101 states that local authorities may adopt rules and regulations on several enumerated matters for those highways under their jurisdiction. 2. Subsection (e) of Vehicle Code Section 21101 authorizes local agencies to "temporarily clos[e] 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." 3. Subsection (e) of Vehicle Code Section 21101 further provides that the local agency may, by resolution, designate a public officer or employee with the authority to determine whether to temporarily close streets for such celebrations, parades, local special events, and other purposes. 4. By this Resolution, the City Council desires to designate the City officials who may temporarily close streets under Subsection (e) of Vehicle Code Section 21101. 5. All legal prerequisites to the adoption of this Resolution have occurred. B. Resolution NOW THEREFORE, the Rancho Cucamonga City Council does hereby find, determine, conclude, and resolve as follows: 1. All facts set forth in Part A, Recitals, of this Resolution are true and correct. 2. The City Council hereby designates the City Manager and the Police Chief as the City officials authorized to temporarily close streets for celebrations, parades, local special events, and other purposes pursuant to Subsection (e) of Vehicle Code Section 21101. Such authority includes the ability to extend the time and dates when portions of Thoroughbred and Jennet Streets may be closed to pedestrian traffic during the annual holiday light display event, as annually authorized by separate City Council resolution. 3. Before the City Manager or Police Chief may exercise the authority to temporarily close a street, he or she shall make a written finding that the closing is necessary for the safety and protection of persons who are to use that portion of the street during the temporary closing. 4. The City Manager or Police Chief is directed to take steps as reasonably possible to widely advertise any street closure and the basis for the closure before it takes effect. Resolution No. 2020-117 - Page 1 of 2 5. This Resolution is exempt from the California EDvn3D[O0nt8| Quality Act ("CE(]/\ ) pursuant t0CE{3A Guidelines Section 15OO1(b)/3\because it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment. This Resolution merely designates City officials and employees who may temporarily o|OSe streets pursuant tO the California Vehicle Code. 0. The City Clerk 8h8|| certify to the adoption of this Resolution PASSED, APPROVED, and ADOPTED this 1D`^ day uf November 202O. ATTEST: 8 � ,4�ice C. Reynolds, CityClerk STATE OF CALIFORNIA � COUNTY OF SAN BEFKNARDUNO es CITY OF RANCHO CUCAK0ONGA � 1, Janice C. Reynolds, City Clerk of the City of Rancho Cucamonga, do hereby certify that the foregoing Resolution was duly passed, approved, and adopted by the City Council of the City OfRancho Cucamonga, atm Regular Meeting of said Council held DD the 18 m day of NOvernber2O20. AYES: HUtChiSOD' Kennedy, Michael, Scott, 8p8gn0|0 NOES: None ABSENT: None ABSTAINED: None Executed this 19m day Of November, 2020' @L Rancho Cucamonga, California. J"ice C. Reynolds, City derk Resolution No. 2O2O-117 - Page 2Vf2 NOTICE EXTENDING TEMPORARY CLOSURE OF PORTIONS OF THOROUGHBRED AND JENNET STREETS, WEST OF SAPPHIRE STREET AND EAST OF TURQUOISE AVENUE, AND A PORTION OF TURQUOISE AVENUE BETWEEN JENNET AND THOROUGHBRED STREETS TO PEDESTRIAN TRAFFIC DURING THE AREA'S HOLIDAY LIGHT DISPLAY BETWEEN DECEMBER 4, 2020 TO DECEMBER 24,2020, 5 P.M.TO 11 P.M., IN RESPONSE TO THE ONGOING COVID-19 PANDEMIC, AND PROVIDING FINDINGS IN SUPPORT THEREOF A. FINDINGS: 1. Thoroughbred and Jennet Streets and Turquoise Avenue are narrow, two-lane, residential streets with no sidewalks, which are not intended to handle substantial amounts of vehicular or pedestrian traffic. 2. An estimated 5,000 to 9,000 vehicles travel through these streets each day during the busiest periods of the Holiday Light Display, in addition to pedestrians who park in neighboring communities and walk into the area. 3. Traffic during the Holiday Light Display has increased to where the average wait time to enter can reach approximately two hours, followed by an additional hour and a half to travel through the streets. On busy evenings, traffic can back up to the 210 Freeway, approximately one mile away. 4. Large trucks, hot rods, and tour buses, which are normally uncommon on Thoroughbred and Jennet Streets and Turquoise Avenue, have been increasingly common in the area during the Holiday Lights Display, which creates additional dangers for pedestrians because they tend to take up larger portions of the road and require additional skill and attention to safely maneuver. 5. The exceedingly high number of vehicles and presence of larger-than normal vehicles in the area results in noise and air pollution to pedestrians and surrounding residents. 6. Traffic and safety problems were historically exacerbated by the large volume of pedestrians in the street, causing vehicles to slow, stop, or idle to avoid collisions. At any one time, as many as 5,000 pedestrians were in the roadway prior to the City's decision to close the streets to pedestrian traffic in recent years. 7. Due to the absence of sidewalks on Thoroughbred and Jennet Streets and Turquoise Avenue, pedestrians would mainly travel in the roadway, which creates a danger both to pedestrians and those traveling in vehicles. 8. Pedestrians have been historically observed traversing back and forth across the street to view the holiday displays. At the same time, drivers are distracted by the holiday displays. With drivers and pedestrians both distracted the potential for an accident involving a pedestrian substantially increases. 9. The Holiday Light Display attracts many families with young children to the area. In some instances, children have been observed wandering unsupervised. Children are therefore at increased risk of being hit by a vehicle while walking in the street. 10. Pedestrians frequently visit the Holiday Light Display expecting to find public restrooms. As no public restrooms are located nearby, pedestrians have been identified using nearby horse trails and dark residential areas to urinate, defecate, and discard hazardous waste. 11. The Chief of Police and Fire Chief have determined that, due to increased vehicle and pedestrian traffic during the Holiday Light Display and limited street capacity, emergency personnel might not be able to safely and timely respond to potential emergencies in the surrounding community. 12. International, national, state, and local health and governmental authorities are responding to an outbreak of respiratory disease caused by a novel coronavirus named "SARS-CoV-2," and the disease it causes has been named "Coronavirus Disease 2019," abbreviated COVID-19, ("COVID-19"). 13. On March 4, 2020, the Governor of the State of California declared a state of emergency to make additional resources available, formalize emergency actions already underway across multiple state agencies and departments, and help the State prepare for broader spread of COVID-19. 14. On March 13, 2020, the President of the United States of America declared a national emergency and announced that the federal government would make emergency funding available to assist state and local governments in preventing the spread of and addressing the effects of COVID-19. 15. On March 18, 2020, the Rancho Cucamonga City Council adopted Resolution 2020-014, proclaiming the existence of a local emergency due to COVID-19 pursuant to Government Code Section 8630. 16. On March 16, 2020 and later amended on October 9, 2020, the California Department of Public Health issued guidance that prohibited large public gatherings. Most recently, on November 19, 2020, the California Department of Public Health issued a Limited Stay at Home Order requiring that certain gatherings with members of other households and all activities conducted outside the residence, lodging, or temporary accommodation with members of other households cease between 10:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. 17. San Bernardino County has consistently been in the most restrictive "purple" tier due to its inability to meet state benchmarks for reducing the spread of COVID-19. 18. COVID-19 continues to be a serious and deadly public health crisis with cases spiking at unprecedented levels nationwide and in San Bernardino County, which recently saw its number of new cases record broken with 1,756 new cases reported on November 17, 2020. 19. The negative impacts and dangerous conditions created by the Holiday Light Display would be mitigated if the affected portions of Thoroughbred and Jennet Streets and Turquoise Avenue were temporarily closed to pedestrian traffic during the Holiday Light Display. In the absence of pedestrians, vehicular traffic flow would improve and emergency vehicles would have improved access because they could pass on either side of the one-way vehicular traffic. Potential accidents involving vehicles and pedestrians would be reduced. Furthermore, reducing pedestrian crowds during the Holiday Light Page 2 Display will help limit gatherings between other households and, therefore, help reduce the spread of COVID-19. 20. Vehicle Code Section 21101(e) authorizes the City to temporarily close a portion of any street for celebrations, parades, local special events, and other purposes when, in the opinion of the City Council, the closing is necessary for the safety and protection of persons who are to use that portion of the street during the temporary closing. 21. On November 18, 2020, the City Council adopted a Resolution 2020-117 delegating authority to temporarily close streets pursuant to Vehicle Code Section 21101(e) to the City Manager. 22. The Holiday Light Display, although not City sponsored, constitutes a local special event for the purposes of Vehicle Code Section 21101(e). B. EXECUTIVE ORDER: NOW, THEREFORE, the City Manager of the City of Rancho Cucamonga does hereby find and order as follows: 1 . The City Council previously approved Resolution No. 2020-012 on March 4, 2020 to close those portions of Thoroughbred and Jennet Streets west of Sapphire Street and east of Turquoise Avenue and Turquoise Avenue between Jennet and Thoroughbred Streets (as identified on Exhibit A, attached hereto and incorporated herein by this reference) to all pedestrian traffic except for residents of the homes on the affected streets and their guests, from 5:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. from December 4 to December 6, 2020 and from December 11 to December 24, 2020. 2. On March 4, 2020, the City Council could not have reasonably anticipated that the ongoing threat of the COVID-19 pandemic would continue into the 2020 holiday season. 3. Due to narrow streets, lack of sidewalks and the presence of heavy vehicular traffic, opportunities to social distance and maintain 6 feet of distance between households will be difficult during the Holiday Light Display. 4. There is a need to prevent large pedestrian gatherings during the Holiday Light Displays on weekdays that were not addressed as part of Resolution No. 2020- 012. 5. With the authority provided by Resolution No. 2020-117, the City Manager has determined that, in the interest of public safety, the streets identified on Exhibit A will be closed to pedestrian traffic, except for residents of the homes on the affected streets and their guests, from 5:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. between December 4, 2020 to December 24, 2020. Page 3 John Gillison, City Manager /f L@�3;z Date Page 4 i s aaxwvs t4� h tf1 rb x Q O r #a?3x321Q S to xw LU x Q 3r1V p'J7QAtf WTURQuoisE n4'� Page 5