The County does not currently operate or maintain any Off Highway Vehicle ("OHV") facilities, but the need for such recreational use is apparent and has been discussed for many years. Many OHV riders recreate within the boundaries of Cache Creek; however, there are substantial constraints to OHV use in Cache Creek, including trespass, noise complaints, vandalism and property damage, public safety, abandoned vehicles, and impacts to adjacent gravel mining operations.
The Board of Supervisors has expressed support for the creation of sanctioned OHV riding opportunities. At its November 17, 2015 meeting, the Board directed the Parks Division and Natural Resources Division to resume the search for a suitable location to conduct a feasibility study for an OHV park in Yolo County. Additionally, the County's General Plan provides support for OHV opportunities. Policy CO-1.20 states: Support development of a new off-highway vehicle park at an appropriate location. Further, Action CO-A9 states: Pursue State grant funds to restore areas of the County impacted by illegal OHV activity, to protect areas from unauthorized use through enforcement, and to redirect users to an OHV park.
Leading up to the submission of the OHV planning grant application, the County held three publicly noticed meetings, two in Woodland (February 22, 2018 and February 21, 2019) and one in West Sacramento (March 1, 2018) to gauge community interest in the project and listen to concerns. The meetings were well attended and much of the input provided was included in the grant application. Additionally, staff conducted an online survey to gather information about OHV interest and received over 1,300 responses. Staff submitted a preliminary grant application on March 4, 2019, and submitted the final application on June 3, 2019.
The County's grant project is focused on two main objectives. First, the County will hire a consultant to prepare a market analysis to ascertain if there is enough community and stakeholder support for OHV opportunities in Yolo County. This includes analysis of potential economic benefit to the region from creation of OHV recreational opportunities in Yolo County and a review of existing and potential funding models for long-term operation and maintenance of an OHV facility. Second, assuming there is demand and support for OHV opportunities, the consultant will prepare a feasibility study to examine two different scenarios: (1) improving access to existing OHV trail riding opportunities within the unincorporated County; and (2) creating a small-medium sized OHV park in the unincorporated County.
Ultimately, the results of both studies will be presented to the Board of Supervisors to advise on the next steps (i.e., site selection, environmental analysis, acquisition, development, etc.). Should a suitable location(s) be selected through this process, staff expects to apply for future grant funding from California Department of Parks and Recreation for further implementation. It should be noted that no potential OHV site(s) have been identified at this point.
On August 5, 2019, the County was notified that the California Department of Parks and Recreation intended to fund the County's planning grant. As of the writing of this staff report, the final award has not been officially announced due to an appeal on a different jurisdiction's grant project. However, Parks Division staff met personally with the California Department of Parks and Recreation grant administrator on September 9, 2019, and received the all-clear to move forward with our project.
The total cost of this project is $249,544. Of this amount, California Department of Parks and Recreation will reimburse the County for $152,310. Matching funds will be provided through staff time ($57,234) and cash ($40,000), which is included in the County Administrator's Office fiscal year 2019-20 Adopted Budget request. |