Plan for Ambitious July 4 Hansen Dam Festival Fizzles Out

Plans for a three-day Fourth of July festival at Hansen Dam were abruptly canceled Tuesday, a few weeks after the area’s councilman complained that a permit was issued for the event without his or the community’s knowledge.

Lesley Calise, director of community relations for B&P; Group of Los Angeles, the event’s organizer, refused to say why the event was canceled.

However, Capt. Valentino Paniccia of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Foothill Division said he believes the organizers were dissuaded by the $150,000 to $217,000 cost estimate for police protection.

“They didn’t anticipate the cost would be as high as we projected,” he said.

Additionally, Paniccia said, “They didn’t anticipate the impact on the community, . . . the fact that their event would bring in a lot of people that would cause the community some negative feeling.”

Last month, Councilman Ernani Bernardi complained that he had learned about the event, “which could draw as many as 100,000 people” to Hansen Dam, only after the city Recreation and Parks Department had issued a permit for it.

Bernardi said he was concerned about the impact of the festival on limited police resources, especially during the July 4 weekend, traditionally a time when law enforcement personnel are busy responding to reports of illegal use of fireworks and firing of guns.

Bernardi’s scheduled meeting for tonight in Lake View Terrace to allow the community to hear more about the festival has been canceled, a spokesman said.

“I have no comment on the event cancellation except to say that my concern was, with an event of such magnitude, that advance planning be thorough so that the services provided by the police and fire departments, as well as transportation and general services, adequately protect the community,” Bernardi said Tuesday.