Vendors haggle with city over All-Star game fence

ORLANDO, Fla. — In two weeks Orlando will become the center of the basketball world when the NBA All-Star Weekend arrives with an estimated $100 million local economic impact, but some nearby businesses are unhappy over plans they say will put them outside a fence from the crowds.

Directly across the street from the $480 million Amway Center, which is being paid for partially by tourist tax dollars and state sales taxes, several businesses say they are considering legal action over a city-approved 8-foot fence the NBA is erecting for the duration of festivities.

Officials from the city and NBA maintain the fence is for security purposes only and is no different than what has been done at past All-Star games.

They also say the 10 affected businesses in the retail spaces outside the arena's Church Street entrance were involved throughout the planning process and declined a plan that would have placed them inside the perimeter of the barrier. Each business currently rents its space from the city.

"Our first priority is safety," Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer told The Associated Press. "This is a high-profile international event and on our watch we're not going to have a bad incident and we're not going to be criticized for not putting in the same type of safety procedures that they had in L.A., Dallas and probably New Orleans, and wherever else the NBA All Star game has been in the past."

He said the NBA has flexibility in handling security, under the agreement with the city, and also said officials are working with the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security.

Timothy Adebule, owner the Three Masks, an African boutique and specialty shop near Amway's Church Street entrance, confirmed that a lawsuit is being considered but referred further comment to attorney Lorenzo Williams.

Other businesses contacted by The Associated Press said the same or declined to comment at all.

Phone and email messages left at Williams' office seeking comment were not immediately returned.

A spokeswoman for the mayor's office said Thursday they had not been notified of a lawsuit being filed.

Even with the fence there will be plenty of activity around the arena, with more than 100,000 people expected at All-Star events at both Amway and the Orlando Convention Center on International Drive, NBA spokesman Mike Bass said.