Council Gives Tentative OK : Country Scene May Reappear in Spring

Staging of a second Country Scene music festival in the spring in the northeast San Fernando Valley was tentatively approved Tuesday by the Los Angeles City Council.

The unanimous vote indicated that the festival’s chief sponsors, radio stations KLAC and KZLA, have apparently defused the controversy that followed the first Country Scene, which drew 150,000 to 200,000 people April 5 and 6 to the Hansen Dam Recreation Area in Lake View Terrace.

After the event, council members complained about the $176,000 cost to the city for providing police protection, traffic control and other services. In response, the festival’s sponsors have agreed to reimburse the city for any extra costs incurred in putting on the festival.

Tuesday’s vote instructed the city attorney to negotiate an agreement with the festival’s sponsors that would spell out their financial obligations to the city. Additionally, staff members will come up with an estimate of city costs. The final agreement must come back to the council for approval.

Unlike the first Country Scene, which was free, sponsors are considering charging a $2 admission fee next year to help offset the expense of holding the event.

The sponsors pledge to donate a portion of any profits to unnamed community groups in the northeast Valley, said Norman M. Epstein, vice president and general manager of KLAC and KZLA.

The festival will be held March 19 and 20 when many country music stars are in town for the annual Academy of Country Music Awards ceremony at Knott’s Berry Farm, organizers said.

The event also was criticized as being a city-financed campaign party for Councilman Joel Wachs, who persuaded the council to hold the event less than two weeks before he faced reelection in his new northeast Valley district.

“My opponents thought it would help me get elected to the council, which it did because it was so good,” Wachs said.