Sonoma supervisors approve anti-sideshow ordinance targeting participants
SONOMA COUNTY – Sideshows and some related peripheral activities were outlawed by a vote of the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.
In a 4-0 vote, with Supervisor James Gore absent, supervisors made it a crime to promote, watch and participate in "street races and reckless driving exhibitions" in any unincorporated part of the county.
"These types of events, which have become more common across the Bay Area recently, create an unsafe environment often causing damage to vehicles and property, reducing air quality due to burning rubber, and producing noise pollution and litter," Sonoma County Sheriff Eddie Engram, who proposed the ban, said in a press release Wednesday.
Violators can face up to six months in jail, a fine of $1,000 and are responsible for property damage.
The county's ordinance is similar to existing rules in Santa Rosa, Rohnert Park and Windsor, and proposed ordinances in Petaluma, Sonoma and Cotati, according to county officials.