 The Los Angeles City Council created new legislation that severely restricted performance on the Venice Beach Boardwalk rather than banning it altogether.In addition, the City of Santa Monica followed the lead of the Los Angeles City Council and passed statutes that strictly limited the ability of performers like Harry Perry to sell CDs and T-shirts to their audiences.Perry and others have initiated legal action in response, alleging that the combination of gentrification and the performance restriction ordinances threatens to destroy the very atmosphere and commerce that made Venice Beach the social mecca for which it is famous.