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City Shuts Down Plans For Sold-Out Downtown Slip N Slide Event

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So much for the plan to bring an epic slip n' slide to downtown. The organizers behind the event Slide The City just sent out an e-mail saying that the city has denied them permits for the event that was supposed to take place September 28, and they're pessimistic that a deal can be worked out in time:

After tirelessly working with the City over the past 2+ months we received word that our permit is being denied. We have been working even harder over the past few days to resolve any issues the City may have, but it appears there is no resolution. Whether this is a direct result of the drought or something else, we want to assure all of our participants and vendors that we have gone through every appropriate permitting step required. We have even jumped through many additional "hoops" the City has created in the hope that they would see that we were flexible and willing to work with them. Unfortunately they have still denied our permit.

The organizers had moved the location and date of the event and promised to recycle and reuse the water in negotiations with the city, but that wasn't enough. Thought there had been concerns from the beginning that this was an inappropriate event to hold during a drought, but the company says they aren't quite sure what the city's issue with the event is.

All 3,500 tickets for the event were already sold out. They're offering refunds and an apology, but they haven't given up and canceled the event altogether: "We are very hopeful that the City will work with us so that we can bring this great event to the streets of LA. Please know that we are at the city offices right now trying everything we can."

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