Community Leaders Voice Festival Frustrations

Community leaders are pushing to have more say about special events held in Midtown, citing that their neighborhoods are directly impacted by crowds of festival goers who park and congregate on their streets.

Festivals, especially those held in , have been a hot topic at recent meetings of Neighborhood Planning Unit-E. The volunteer board of elected community leaders makes recommendations to the city on voting issues including zoning and permit applications.

For at least three months, event permits have dominated the agendas at NPU-E.

“Right now, this is our hot season,” Susan Watts, an NPU-E board member who represents the Midtown Neighbors’ Association, said at Tuesday’s meeting. More than 15 special event permits were on the agenda that night. 

Organizers must acquire permits in order to hold festivals and other large gatherings in the city. Events with at least 250 people require a special event permit, which is issued from Mayor Kasim Reed’s office. Events with less than 250 people must acquire a “large gathering” permit, which is issued by the city’s parks department

NPU-E reviews the permits but can only make recommendations on whether they’re approved or denied. The city doesn’t require that organizers consult neighborhoods directly impacted by the events.

“We get a lot of flack … from the festival organizers about going to meet with the affected neighborhoods,” NPU-E chair and Ansley Park resident Penelope Cheroff said Tuesday. “All they want to do is deal with the city, come to the NPU meetings and get us to sign off on it.”

But local leaders greater oversight in the planning process. They want event organizers to be required to seek the opinion of affected neighborhoods prior to presenting to the NPU.

It's a "good practice to do that,” Ron Grunwald, an NPU-E board member who represents the Loring Heights Neighborhood Association. The neighborhood sometimes is affected by large events at Atlantic Station. 

Neighborhood leaders have grown increasingly frustrated with the permitting process and, this year, have voiced opposition to two longstanding Atlanta festivals.

In May, NPU-E  the approval of the Atlanta Jazz Festival’s permit. The board opposed the closing of 10th Street for the festival. But their showing of opposition did nothing to prevent the street closing or the event from happening.

On Tuesday, the NPU-E board almost voted not to recommend the event permit for the 41st annual Atlanta Pride Festival, set for Oct. 8 and 9. Members instead decided to defer a vote until September after convincing the organizer to schedule a meeting with the Midtown Neighbors’ Association. 

Solutions could be in the works.

Kristina Garcia-Bunuel, senior legislative aide for Atlanta City Councilman Michael Julian Bond (Post One at Large), attended Tuesday’s meeting to share the councilman’s efforts to address the community’s concerns. 

Garcia said Bond introduced legislation in July that would require the city’s parks department to review the festival permitting process. A report should come in December, she added.

The Midtown Neighbors’ Association recently conducted a survey about festivals. More than 200 responses were collected and the results should be released Friday, said association president Greg Guhl.

“It’s very important that we step up to the plate and offer ideas to better handle festivals,” Guhl said by phone Wednesday. “Now probably is the time to tweak the process.”