POSTED: Friday, Feb. 12, 2010

BellingJAM canceled because of permit issues; event replaced by Haiti fundraiser

BELLINGHAM - Permitting issues have led to the cancellation of this year's Winter BellingJAM sports and music event, which had been scheduled for Monday, Feb. 15.

This would have been the second year for the free event that combines snowboarding and skiing demonstrations with art and music.

BellingJAM was canceled after organizers were unable to get permits to close part of State Street near its intersection with Magnolia Street. They needed written consent of all business owners on the block, but that didn't happen, said Brent Baldwin, development manager with Bellingham Public Works.

"What the city has to look at is that's the access to their business," Baldwin said. "And you can't just cut that off."

D'Anna's Café Italiano owner Michael D'Anna would not sign off on the event. Last year's event took place in the parking lot between his restaurant and The Copper Hog on State Street.

"Last year they held this event and it was out of hand, it was unorganized," D'Anna said. "It was a free for all. A bunch of underage people hanging out in the parking lot around cars and on cars."

During that event, someone did about $2,500 worth of damage to a car owned by one of D'Anna's employees. When D'Anna talked to the event organizers, they offered no help.

"They just said, 'That's not our problem. We didn't do it, somebody there did.' Nobody took liability or responsibility for what happened out here," he said. "It was kind of a bitter thing for us. It left a bad taste in our mouth."

One of the organizers, Corey Warren, said he was unaware of the car damage until January, when D'Anna let his opposition be known. He said organizers then offered to pay the employee's insurance premiums, offered D'Anna a free spot as a sponsor and let him know that this year's event would have more security. But it didn't change D'Anna's mind.

"They wanted to block the whole street off this time and I could just see it being magnified from last year, and because nobody made good on the damage from last year, I opposed it," he said. "I feel bad. I didn't want to be the bad neighbor, to stop their fun, but I talked to the city and they could have done it (elsewhere)."

Warren, who also owns local screen-printing and design business Innate, is disappointed that the event had to be canceled this year, but he sees it as a lesson for next year.

"It's unfortunate that we weren't able to pull it off in the location we'd hoped for ... but there are other even more suitable locations downtown that we can go after next year," Warren said in an e-mail. "I think we did make a mistake in the order of our planning process, and put the 'cart before the horse,' but it's been a great experience for everyone involved, and we've got a great model to follow for next year. With the response we've observed this year, I can't imagine the anticipation building for next year's event."

In the meantime, organizers are using interest in the event to raise money for Haiti earthquake relief

On Monday, Feb. 15, people can meet at the Copper Hog from 6 to 9 p.m. for drinks, food, music and art before a candlelight walk to Wild Buffalo for a hip-hop show by Common Market. Profits from the show, as well as $1 from each pint purchased that evening at Copper Hog, will go to the Yéle Haiti Earthquake Fund, which provides meals, food kits and water to people affected by the Jan. 12 earthquake.