The following policies were posted to The Pennsic War Facebook page. Note that “CLC” stands for Coopers Lake Campground. UPDATE 3/27/24 – PLEASE SEE CHANGES POSTED BY CLC AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS ARTICLE.

POLICY POST 1

New Pennsic, new parking policies! Rather than post one, single, long post, we are breaking this up by section. There are seven in total: Definitions, Traffic, Parking, Towing, RV camping, and Stuck or Disabled vehicles. They will be posted over the next few days in several installments.

Please keep in mind that Pennsic has a unique blend of pedestrian and vehicular traffic, along roads lined by sheet walls and tents. Because of this, we are constantly working to keep up with the needs and safety concerns for each Pennsic attendee.

Our goal is for everyone to have a safe and wonderful event.

POLICY POST 2

Everyone’s favorite: definitions! In order to be sure we are all in the same page, we have provided the following.

DEFINITIONS

Motor-vehicle: any vehicle which uses a motor (electric or petroleum-based fuel) to provide its primary means of movement. This includes motorcycles. This does not include personal mobility devices (“scooters”).

Passenger vehicle: any motor-vehicle with a primary function of transporting people with an overall length less than 22.5 feet (270 inches). This includes pickups, SUVs, and conversion vans. (The longest consumer vehicle produced is the Ford Super duty with crew cab and 8’ bed which is 267 inches long.)

Oversized vehicle: any motor-vehicle with a primary function of transporting cargo or other packed materials with an overall length in excess of 22.5 feet (270 inches). This includes all box trucks, converted buses, RVs, etc. It does not include pickup trucks, SUVs, or conversion vans.

Trailer: any wheeled vehicle which is towed behind another vehicle, and which lacks its own motor. This does not include racks or trays which attach to a vehicle but do not have wheels of their own.

Personal mobility device (“scooter”): A vehicle, typically on three or four wheels, which provides a method of propulsion (motor) to its user for purposes of mobility and access. This does not include bicycles, “foot-powered” scooters, skateboards, or other recreational, human-powered means of transportation. “Walkers” and other human-powered walking aids are not included in this policy. For purposes of this policy, “motor” in this circumstance is exclusively electric as gas-powered devices are not allowed by policy of CLC.

Parked vehicle: any vehicle with the motor turned off (or without keys in the vehicle for electric/hybrid vehicles).

Stopped vehicle: any vehicle which is stopped on site with the motor running (or keys and driver in it).

Parking: designated lot within the CLC for purpose of parking motor-vehicles.
VIP (or paid) parking: a subset of lots specifically designated by CLC personnel. VIP parking is a function of CLC and requires you to surrender your Pennsic parking tag in order to access VIP lots.

Disability parking: a subset of lots specifically designated by CLC personnel. These lots require
a visible disability license plate or hang tag.

Roads/Roadways: pathways for vehicles and pedestrians marked by natural boundaries (pavement/stone) or by markers (painted lines) or both; and typically indicated by signage at the end or intersection.

Nighttime hours: hours from one half-hour past troll closure until troll opens then next morning. For purposes of this policy, that is defined as 10:30PM until 8:00AM.

“Party hopping”: the use of a motor vehicle to travel and/or transport a person or persons within the campground, to or from any and all types of events, regardless of whether the driver has or has not consumed alcohol. This definition is not limited to nighttime hours.

POLICY POST 3

Please pay close attention as there are some important changes that will affect nighttime traffic around Pennsic.

TRAFFIC POLICIES
The operation of motor-vehicles on CLC presents a risk to operators and pedestrians. As such, the following rules are to be enforced during the entirety of the Pennsic event:

• Motor-vehicles in motion within CLC must remain within roadways, except when entering/departing a participant’s campsite. Participants are encouraged to ensure appropriate planning to allow for vehicles entering/departing their campsite to do so without impeding the roadway.
• All motor-vehicles must obey traffic signals. This includes one-way markers and posted speed limits. Note: the overall speed limit within CLC is 10MPH. For most vehicles in motion, this pace DOES NOT require the use of the vehicle’s accelerator to maintain on level ground.
• No vehicle may be operated, except in emergency situations, within CLC during nighttime hours south of Dragon Trace and Curry Road (that is, the lower “half” of the site essentially south of the troll and Penn Marketplace areas). If you need to leave site during nighttime hours, please contact the Watch and you will be escorted safely offsite.
• Vehicles which must be operated (under escort in precluded areas) during nighttime hours must operate using headlights (not just parking/driving lights).
• During nighttime hours, vehicles may enter CLC via the North and Battlefield gates for the primary purpose of reaching parking areas. While this does require the operation of vehicles in areas north of Troll, the operation of vehicles during nighttime hours is strongly discouraged even in areas not otherwise forbidden by other parts of this policy.
• “Party hopping” of all types is forbidden. The use of vehicles for certain combat related activities (e.g. transportation of combatants/participants to/from any martial activity) is strictly at the discretion of CLC personnel and Pennsic event staff. In such events (e.g. the Woods Battles) special and designated traffic and parking practices may be used to control traffic. All participants in this event agree to expressly follow the instructions of event staff for the safe operation of these large events. Failure to comply with event staff instructions presents a risk of serious injury and as such, is potential grounds for expulsion from the event or other appropriate sanctions.

POLICY POST 4

PARKING POLICIES
General rule:

• In general, motor-vehicles are not allowed to be parked anywhere outside of designated Pennsic event parking areas – even if the vehicle is “covered”. There are specific exceptions to this rule which are outlined below. (Please note, the intention of this rule is
  that all motor-vehicles must be parked within parking areas. If you find yourself confronted by parking staff about a vehicle being parked in your camp or elsewhere outside of parking areas; and find yourself defending a violation of the reasons below, you should ask yourself why you are attempting to defend a violation of the principle and
  intent of this rule.)

The following rules will be enforced for the entirety of Pennsic:

• Vehicles may not be parked on a roadway. “Insufficient space” inside or outside of a specific camp does not justify a participant stopping or parking their vehicle in a way to impede a roadway for personal convenience. Note: this may mean you need to park at a short distance from your camp in order to maintain clear roadways.
• When loading and unloading a vehicle, if you are unable to pull into your camping area, you should stop or park any vehicle on the EAST (towards I-79) and NORTH (towards the main parking lot) sides of the road. In areas of the site where this is impractical (due primarily to terrain), you should always stop or park on the same side as other vehicles which may already be stopped or parked on the roadway.
• There is no stopping or parking allowed in front of the CLC store or in “Town Square” (the area in front of Information point and adjacent to the ice vending). Parking in these areas is strictly limited to CLC staff and vendors. Failure to comply with this restriction may result in immediate towing of a vehicle. “Ice runs” and “grocery runs” to CLC
  shopping venues are not a justification for disregarding this rule. Attendees of Pennsic are not CLC staff and may not use CLC Staff parking tags to circumvent this (or any)rule.

Enforcement of the following rules will commence at 8:00AM on Monday of “Peace Week”, and will continue through the event until 6:00PM on Friday of “War Week”:

• Motor-vehicles may not be parked in camp. There is no disability exception to this rule.
• In general, attendees have six (6) hours from arrival (as noted on your vehicle’s “hang tag” provided when you troll in) to unload your vehicle and move it to parking – not including nighttime hours. Due to nighttime driving restrictions, the following practical guide is being provided in order to clarify expected times for your vehicle to be moved:
• Arrival Time Time by which vehicle should be in parking:
  • Troll opening through 4:00PM 6 hours from arrival on that day
  • 5:00PM: 9:00AM of the following day
  • 6:00PM: 10:00AM of the following day
  • 7:00PM: 11:00AM of the following day
  • 8:00PM: 12:00PM of the following day
  • 9:00PM: 1:00PM of the following day
  • 10:00PM: 2:00PM of the following day
• Stopped vehicles (as defined above) are allowed on-site to facilitate practical transfer of items to/from campsites (e.g. “town-runs”, etc.). Note: vehicle must not impede the roadway while stopped. If the driver turns off the engine (removes keys), the vehicle is considered parked and, if outside of the allowed six-hour arrival window, the vehicle is subject to parking policy enforcement instantly.

The following policy/practices are in effect for designated parking areas throughout Pennsic:

• General parking areas are for passenger vehicles only. No trailers are allowed in general, VIP, or disability parking. Trailers parked in any of these areas are subject to immediate towing/removal.
• All vehicles (including trailers) should be parked in a way which allows the maximum, efficient use of the parking area for all participants. In most circumstances, this requires a maximum of four feet between vehicles.
• Vehicles may only be parked perpendicular to the direction of travel in the lanes (“face in” or “face out” to the ropes in the lane).
• Trailers may be parked only as follows:
  • Detached trailers may be parked in the trailer parking area. This area is in the far northeast corner of CLC and is marked by signage indicating “trailer drop-off.”This area is for detached trailers only – parked with tongue facing the travel lane for access.
  • Attached trailers (that is, trailers which remain attached to their towing vehicle) may be parked in oversized parking only.
• Oversized vehicles must be parked in the designated oversized parking areas. Oversized vehicles parked in general, VIP, or disability parking may be towed.
• Disability parking is for the use of those who have a marked (license plate or hang-tag) indicator of authority to use these parking areas.
  • No personal mobility devices may be left in disability parking to “hold” a space. Areas adjacent to disability lots will be provided for you to leave any personal mobility device.
  • Vehicles without a marker (license plate or hang-tag) parked in disability parking will be subject to immediate towing.
  • Trailers may not be parked in disability parking.
    (Note: The ADA only requires CLC provide a minimum number of spaces based on attendance. That requirement is far below demand, in the range of ~120 spaces. Every effort will be made to provide sufficient disability parking to support attendees of the event, but parking – including disability parking – is a first-come, first-served commodity.)
• VIP parking is controlled by CLC and requires attendees obtain a replacement parking pass (in exchange for your Pennsic hang-tag) from the War Room. Hours and availability for these passes is strictly controlled by CLC staff. Use of a VIP parking pass does not entitle the holder to any additional benefit other than the ability to park in designated VIP parking areas. VIP parking pass holders are subject to all other provisions within this policy.

POLICY POST 5

The end is here! This is the final policy post. As soon as this is added to the website, we will post the link so you have it all in one place.
We combined the Towing, RV camping, disabled/stuck vehicles and sanctions into one convenient post.
If you have any questions, please refer to the definitions page first.
Thank you for your patience and participation!

TOWING POLICY

• Vehicles which: block essential services such as Porta-Johns, Pennsic War facilities, CLC facilities; park in specifically marked “no parking” zones; whose driver, passenger(s) or other attendee(s) remove road barricades on closed roads; or block or otherwise obstruct the ability of emergency services to perform their task or the Bus to pass, are subject to immediate towing without any prior notice.
• Vehicles which are improperly parked or are in violation of any site rule or site policy are subject to immediate towing without any prior notice.
• Warnings may be provided based on the judgment of Event Safety personnel, but are not required.
• All costs of towing vehicles shall be the responsibility of the Owner/Operator of the vehicle in question.

RV CAMPING

• RV’s have their own camping area and regulations. Arrangements for RV camping must be made through the Cooper’s Lake Campground.
• No one may live in a registered motor vehicle other than those in RV Camping. There is no disability exception to this rule.

DISABLED/STUCK VEHICLES

• If your vehicle breaks down in the middle of a road or parking area, or becomes stuck in some fashion, please leave a note on the dashboard identifying the issue and the time it occurred and then immediately report the breakdown to the Watch Tent. Unreported disabled vehicles that are improperly parked or block access as described in these policies, will be towed, without notice, at the owner’s expense.
  • Should your disabled vehicle need extraction, you may contact the CLC WAR ROOM for determination if assistance/towing is possible. Due to increased use of plastic in car construction, CLC may decline to tow/extract your vehicle, if in their opinion, an unsafe or damageable condition exists or may occur.
  • If your vehicle is declined for towing/extraction, you will be required to contact a commercial towing company and follow the instructions set forth in RENTALS AND DELIVERIES section of this document.

SANCTIONS

Repeat or combative offenders of any of these polices may be subject to expulsion from the event and where violations of the anti-bullying policies, or abuse of staff volunteers are noted, may be subject to additional sanctions by CLC or the SCA, inc.

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UPDATE

On March 27th, 2024 the following update was posted on The Pennsic War Facebook page.

Thank you for the feedback on our parking and traffic policies as it has helped us make some adjustments, and figure out where there was need for clarification.

PLEASE REFER BACK TO THE ORIGINAL POSTS, especially if you have commented on them; your concerns may have been addressed.
Below are the key changes made and some insights on why they were made.

KEY CHANGES

In Definitions section:
1. Refined the definitions for passenger and oversized vehicles:

a. Reasoning: The distinction between these two classes of vehicles was necessary to allow for efficient parking, where the size of parking spots and lanes in parking areas was the primary factor. Thus, we removed the inclusion of “function” of the vehicle from the definition of each type of vehicle. Examples are still given for illustrative purposes, but are not the primary focus of distinction.

b. Policy changed to be:

• Passenger vehicle: any motor-vehicle with an overall length less than 22.5 feet (270 inches). This includes pickups, SUVs, conversion vans, and some box trucks. (The longest consumer vehicle produced is the Ford Super duty with crew cab and 8’ bed which is 267 inches long.)
• Oversized vehicle: any motor-vehicle with an overall length more than of 22.5 feet (270 inches). This includes box trucks, converted buses, RVs, etc. It does not include pickup trucks, SUVs, and conversion vans or box trucks less than 22.5 feet in length.

2. Refined the definition of parked and stopped vehicles.

a. Reasoning: There were a number of comments from folks concerned about potential confusion because of the inconsistency of modern vehicles’ use of keys and/or ignition mechanisms which made it practically impossible to write a rule which relied on the running state of the vehicle to give distinction. Thus, the differentiation is based solely on the existence of lack of driver in the vehicle.

b. Policy changed to be:

• Parked vehicle: any immobile motor-vehicle without a driver behind the wheel.
• Stopped vehicle: any immobile motor-vehicle with a driver behind the wheel.

3. Changed the hours which mark the end of nighttime hours.

a. Reasoning: A number of attendees expressed concern about the start of significant activities elsewhere around site – things like classes and volunteer shifts. Since we want to ensure attendees are able to reach critical activities without risking putting them in violation of the rules as well as to account for the real likely increase in pedestrian traffic as those activities started, we sought to make this more reasonable. In short, your feedback was critical in reconsidering this new policy.

b. Additionally: Please note this change also alters the time guidance in the parking section of the policies to account for an earlier end to nighttime hours and requirement to move vehicles which were parked overnight after initial arrival.

c. Words of thanks: Karrah the Mischievous who reached out to me right after these policies were posted. She shared some of the concerns about the times provided in the definition of nighttime hours, which ultimately echoed some of the discussions in the broader community. I want to emphasize that she is a large part of the reason we decided to adjust this policy because not only did she justify her concerns, but she did so with courtesy that is the epitome of our society and we very much appreciate her working with us and helping us understand the concerns in a way that made it abundantly clear that she wanted to be part of the solution that benefited more than her own needs.

d. Policy changed to be:

• Nighttime hours: hours from one half-hour past troll closure until troll opens the next morning. For purposes of this policy, that is defined as 10:30PM until 6:00AM.

In Parking Policy section:
1. Included additional language speaking to practicality when it comes to enforcing stopped/parked vehicles which are making “town runs”.

a. Reasoning: As noted in the beginning of the policy, the intent of these policies is to substantially reduce the number of vehicles on site – driving or stopped/parked. This is because we have witnessed an increase in situations where vehicles present hazards to pedestrians, risk restricting emergency vehicle or bus access to key parts of the site, etc. But we also recognize that people need to make town runs or other trips off site and return with items to their camp. To be clear, the vast majority of folks make every effort to be reasonable and comply with this intent and we recognize this. This is (as some have noted) a situation where a few people have necessitated a rule. On occasion, we have unfortunately encountered vehicles parked and simply sitting there – without anyone actively loading/unloading anything from the vehicle (yes, we sit and watch for a bit to ensure this is the case or have made repeated drive-by to confirm the vehicle is parked). And when this happens, almost everyone we approach to ask them to comply has an excuse. This rule eliminates their justification for any excuse – especially because all of their neighbors are actually following this rule unspoken. We are NOT looking to catch anyone out and often ignore very short pauses of people who are unloading a vehicle because we recognize that people are trying to do their best to be good neighbors.

b. Also consider: For those who consider themselves “gamblers”, yes, you could park your car and go grab a sandwich or such. And since we have only a few people enforcing parking, there is a chance you could “get away with it”. But it IS a violation of both the intent and the letter of this rule. The longer your vehicle remains stopped/parked the more likely a chance we will notice. We have found that the vast majority of adversarial encounters with parking enforcement involve someone getting caught playing this gamble and then they are upset they’ve been caught. We average around 5 encounters a day where this happens. And most of you will understand that that is a pretty low number considering the number of people at Pennsic, but those few do present a challenge and are the reason for this rule.

c. Policy changed to:

• Stopped motor-vehicles (as defined above) are allowed on-site to facilitate practical transfer of items to/from campsites (e.g. “town-runs”, etc.). Motor-vehicles must not impede the roadway while stopped. If the driver exits the motor-vehicle, the motor-vehicle is considered parked and, if outside of the allowed six-hour arrival window, the motor-vehicle is subject to parking policy enforcement instantly
• Note: practical consideration of this rule means parking enforcement personnel will use significant discretion and observe interaction of parked vehicles which may be returning from a town run to unload. As long as attendees are actively unloading a vehicle, they will not be asked to move to parking. The intent of this rule is to prevent attendees from returning from a town run and parking their motor-vehicle in camp longer than necessary to unload. We ask attendees to plan appropriately to have necessary assistance in their camp to facilitate unloading such that attendees do not have to remain stopped or parked beyond any time necessary to unload.