The fence erected on Bayou St. John in anticipation of Bayou Boogaloo was taken down Wednesday morning, following protests by Councilwoman Susan Guidry and several local neighbors.

On Wednesday morning, Bayou Boogaloo organizer Jared Zeller released this statement:

To our community, We heard you. The fence is coming down. We were trying to pro-actively solve a couple of issues but the cure was worse than the disease and we are removing the fence. After the festival there will be a year to have more nuanced conversations with neighbors about moving forward.

We pride ourselves on hosting a true neighborhood festival. That’s why we started the Mid-City Bayou Boogaloo back in that first spring after Katrina, and the community love it has produced is what keeps our crew going each year. Our festival has evolved through those years, and we’ve made many changes along the way. This year we made a significant one by temporarily fencing a portion of the bayou across from our main stage area, and we also made a mistake by not communicating better with our neighbors and supporters about this change. Our intent is not to keep anyone out, but rather to encourage more people to participate. We want to keep admission free so that all community members have the opportunity to attend. The Mid-City Bayou Boogaloo has always been fueled by great New Orleans music, food, art and crafts and, perhaps most of all, community. It also requires money, time and positive relationships with all involved. To be a true neighborhood festival requires community participation. Some do this by volunteering, by becoming members of the Mothership Foundation and our Canopy Club, by sponsoring the festival or simply by attending and supporting our vendors. The decision to add temporary fencing this year along one side of a stretch of the bayou was made in light of a number of issues we face in producing our event, many of which extend beyond the grounds where we hold our event. These include trash, safety, traffic, liability, neighboring properties, and outside beverages. The installation of a temporary fence along this small section was an attempt to mitigate the issues mentioned here. So please, consider why we made this decision, come enjoy the music and food, spend time with your neighbors and friends and enjoy the community festival we strive to produce. MotherShip Foundation

Wednesday’s action followed a request by Susan Guidry, the councilwoman who oversees sections of Mid-City as part of her district, who called for the removal of a chain link fence erected on Moss Street days before Mid-City Bayou Boogaloo in anticipation of the festival’s 11th year.

On Tuesday, Guidry took to social to publicly express her displeasure with the situation.

“Bayou Boogaloo has been a wonderful festival fostering and celebrating our city’s recovery for over ten years. Each year it gets bigger and better as organizers try to improve the production to benefit festival goers,” Guidry wrote on her Facebook page late Tuesday night. “However, this fence was NOT a part of Bayou Boogaloo’s lease and I have called for it to be REMOVED.”

The councilwoman’s input was part of a firestorm of comments that ignited social media after Jared Zeller, the organizer and founder of Bayou Boogaloo, made the decision to have the temporary fence installed.

Running along the Moss Street side of the bayou’s bank from near the Lafitte Greenway to Orleans Avenue, where the other side turns into S. Jefferson Davis Parkway, the fence was put up in the name of safety, according to festival organizers.

“We have been considering this for years,” Zeller wrote in response to inquiries on social media.”People sit on the banks over there, buy beers from the Ideal Market and leave their trash.”

Zeller also mentioned “traffic concerns” as cars were parking in the street next to picnic locations, and suggested the fence would keep out “unaccompanied children” who had been seen swimming in the bayou.

Finally, Zeller mentioned the recent Zulu on the Bayou event, where he said he saw people on that side of the bayou operating generators, barbeque pits and committing other “unsafe practices.”

In addition to the fence, the festival posted a sign that the walking path on Jefferson Davis would be closed for a week starting Tuesday.

The response on Facebook and Twitter was almost immediate, with most neighbors opining that the temporary addition gave the neighborhood an exclusionary feel, and was perhaps even unsafe.

“The fence is a horrible idea,” said commenter Michael Boedigheimer. “What’s next, sound proofing so I can’t sit on my porch and hear the music for free?”

Others suggested the fence had racist undertones.

“Using the example of Zulu on the Bayou making a mess and using unsafe practices as an excuse to erect the fence for your festival is troubling,” added commenter Janine Hayes.

Tuesday night, Zeller responded publicly, saying that he agreed the fence was “unpopular” and “ugly,” but again cited safety in defending the festival’s need for it.

“We never wanted to do this or pay for it. However, there are two sides to everything, correct? Our conversations will continue with the City to come up with a solution,” Zeller wrote. “Please remember that what you have come to love about Bayou St. John over the last ten years is in part due to our efforts. There would not be 8 towering live oaks that replaced the ones lost to previous storms and there wouldn’t be a beautiful work of art that was created from a tree struck by lightning. The last thing we want is to keep our neighbors out. We are your neighbors, we live in these neighborhoods.”

In the meantime, the controversy had prompted a “Boycott Bayou Boogaloo” Facebook page, which invited more commentary, and concern for those who would be impacted by the neighbors’ anger.

“I really hope the fence comes down.. unintended victims of the boycott will be the local vendors..they’ve already paid for their spots..probably invested time and money into additional inventory..and some of them may very well have been washed out in the 2nd weekend of JF..” commenter Maureen Rice posted.

Tracy Thompson agreed.

“please don’t boycott the crafts and food vendors who had nothing to do with this fence,” she wrote.

Reporting contributed by Marta Jewson.