CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Mecklenburg County has revoked the fireworks permit for the U.S. National Whitewater Center's July Fourth celebration. The center also separately announced the fireworks show on July 3 will also not be happening.
WCNC Charlotte received the following statement from Mecklenburg County when we first asked about the permit for the July 4 show being pulled:
"Mecklenburg County has communicated to the Whitewater Center the fireworks permit for 7/4 has been rescinded and the permit for 7/3 is approved."
The Whitewater Center's website previously advertised fireworks happening at 9:30 p.m. on Monday, July 3. However, it has since been updated to reflect the new cancellations. The Center's official Facebook page also confirmed the new details.
The center will still have live music, races, and other events, according to its website.
WCNC Charlotte has reached out to Mecklenburg County and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department for information about why the permit was rescinded and is awaiting a response. A letter written by CMPD chief Johnny Jennings and shared with county manager Dena Diorio and city manager Marcus Jones highlighted concerns over traffic issues, security staffing, and possible major calls that would require drawing resources from across the department's jurisdiction.
Jennings' full letter was shared by a county spokesperson, although Diorio was not made available for comment:
I am hoping that we can get in front of a potential problem that we have voiced concerns with for several years. The County Fire Marshall has issued a permit for the Whitewater Center to host a fireworks display on Monday July 3rd and Tuesday July 4th. In the past, July 4th celebrations have attracted over 10,000 people and have created major traffic problems with limited to no clear ingress/egress for emergency response vehicles.
On June 18th, my staff met with Mecklenburg County Fire Marshall Ted Panagiotopoulos and other Mecklenburg County representatives to discuss this permit. CMPD requested a copy of the event plan submitted by the Whitewater Center and only received it today (June 29). There are several concerns with the event plan, which does not include critical recommendations by CMPD.
- The plan does not address the large influx of vehicles, nor are there contingencies for blocked or stalled traffic.
- Hawfield Road is listed as an emergency egress route, however this is a private road and is currently blocked by the residents who live on that street.
- The plan does not address the impact of the event on surrounding roadways and highways.
- The center will have crowd management staff for 7,500 attendees when 10,000 is estimated to attend based on previous years.
- The permit was issued to the center prior to CMPD having the opportunity to review the plan. The plan also appears to be a cut and paste version of the 2022 plan.
- The center is hiring on-site private security, but the number of security staff is not documented.
- There are only 1,500 parking spaces at the center with an estimated 4,500 vehicles expected based on prior years.
Previous July 4th events at the Whitewater Center have required on-duty staffing pulls of 30+ officers. The Whitewater Center has always been offered the opportunity to hire off-duty officers for traffic mitigation, which their response is that they are not responsible for traffic outside of the property. This is contrary to Mecklenburg County Fire Code 403.12.2 cited below:
Public Safety Plan for Gathering: Where the fire code official determines that an indoor or outdoor gathering of persons has an adverse impact on public safety through diminished access to buildings, structures, fire hydrants and fire apparatus access roads or where such gatherings adversely affect public safety services of any kind, the fire code official shall have the authority to order the development of or prescribe a public safety plan that provides an approved level of public safety and address the following items:
- Emergency vehicle ingress and egress
- Fire protection
- Emergency egress or escape routes
- Emergency medical services
- Public assembly areas
- The directing of both attendees and vehicles, including the parking of vehicles
- Vendor and food concession distribution
- The need for the presence of law enforcement
- The need for fire and emergency medical services personnel
Although CMPD will have a small contingency of staff to assist with monitoring the event, we will not be providing any planned traffic control with on-duty staff. As always, we will address 911 emergency calls as appropriately as we can. Any major response to the Whitewater Center will require pulling staff from patrol working across our jurisdiction, which jeopardizes our responsibility to our citizens.
As the Chief of Police, I feel that it is my duty to inform you that this plan as currently submitted creates a significant public safety concern.
I hope that we can come to some amenable solution that ensures a safe event with minimal impact on the citizens of Charlotte-Mecklenburg and visitors to the Whitewater Center.
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