Carnival Will Close Street in Sunday Finale

A three-day carnival in Sherman Oaks that will raise money for local schools and the Chamber of Commerce is scheduled to start tonight and culminate Sunday in a street fair that will shut down a stretch of Ventura Boulevard for 15 hours.

The second annual Sherman Oaks Street Fair and Carnival will close off the major thoroughfare to cars between Van Nuys Boulevard and Cedros Avenue from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Backers of the fair--which will include 190 arts and crafts booths, a petting zoo and a strolling barbershop quartet--say the event will promote businesses in the area while fostering a sense of community.

“It’s going to be great,” said Jeff Brain, executive vice president of the Greater Sherman Oaks Chamber of Commerce, which is putting on the event. “It makes you feel like you’re in a small town.”

Not everyone shares that sentiment, however.

Some merchants say the fair actually puts a damper on businesses along Ventura Boulevard. They say that street signs warning people about the road closure discourage motorists who might otherwise patronize their shops.

The warning signs are posted almost three miles to the west of the closure area and about one mile to the east, city officials said.

“They’re shutting down Ventura Boulevard for this silly little street fair,” said Russell Lenhart, owner of the Sherman Oaks Carwash on Ventura near Sepulveda Boulevard. “The economic loss to the territory from that shutdown is immense.”

Lenhart said he lost several thousand dollars worth of business last year. Marie Callender’s restaurant on Ventura Boulevard also did about $1,000 less in business than normal during the fair last year, Assistant Manager Randy Nichwander said.

The restaurant is about half a block from the fair’s western boundary. However, the boulevard in front of the restaurant will be blocked to eastbound traffic to avoid congestion and interference with pedestrians, city officials said.

“If I was a patron and I knew that the street was going to be closed, I wouldn’t consider coming here that day,” Nichwander said.

Chamber officials have tried to make it clear that businesses are open by posting signs to that effect below the street-closure warnings, Brain said.

Controversy greeted last year’s fair as well when some homeowners worried that the event would compound traffic and parking problems. But the event went off smoothly, attracting about 35,000 people and earning praise from neighbors.

The carnival will be staged in the parking lot behind Tower Records at 14612 Ventura Blvd. from 6 to 11 p.m. Friday and noon to 11 p.m. Saturday, Brain said.

The carnival will also run in conjunction with the street fair from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday. Ventura Boulevard will be closed additional hours to permit setup and cleanup, Brain said.

Last year, the event made $16,000. Five schools divided $11,000 and the chamber took $5,000, Brain said.

This year, the schools will get 66% of the first $16,000 in profit, Brain said. The schools will get 51% of the money after that, and the rest will go to the chamber.