Dunwoody City Council this week decided to hold off sponsoring a summer series of concerts in Brook Run Park, but the Dunwoody Homeowners Association is to decide whether to go on with the shows.
The DHA board will consider the concert series plan during its March 3 meeting, secretary Bill Grossman said.
“I’m hopeful we can do something,” Grossman said.
The DHA originally proposed it join with the city to promote the concerts. Grossman said the original idea was based on a concert series in Smyrna, which he said attracted crowds of up to 1,000 people to a show. Shows would feature entertainers who would perform in the park for free. Food trucks would be invited to sell at the shows.
City officials said the DHA proposal was to schedule six concerts from mid-June to mid-September in a portion of Brook Run where the city now occasionally offers summer movies through its “Pic in the Park” series.
The council considered providing up to $10,000 to support the concerts. Council members voted 5-2 to table the proposal during the council’s Feb. 25 meeting, with Councilmen Doug Thompson and Denis Shortal voting against the tabling.
Shortal said the concerts would help build a sense of community in Dunwoody.
“Once in a while, you’ve got to go out and have some fun,” Shortal said. “It’s something we need for community spirit.”
But other council members questioned the cost, worried that the concerts might compete with fundraising concerts at the Dunwoody Nature Center or thought other groups might want the chance to get involved in similar projects.
“I think it’s too early in our young city to venture into parks programming,” Councilman Terry Nall said. “The model has been to allow nonprofits to provide [parks programs]. To me, it’s a ‘needs’ versus ‘wants’ situation. The concert series is a nice ‘want,’ but it’s not a ‘need.’
Resident Cheryl Summers, who lives on Tilly Mill Road outside the park, questioned how much noise the concerts would make. She said that during the Dunwoody Music Festival last year, she could hear the music in her house with the doors and windows shut.
“All and all, I’m not opposed to the concerts in Brook Run Park, I’m opposed to the noise,” she said. “We need to have a noise ordinance before we have these concerts coming to town. … My neighbors are all going to be harassed by the loud noise coming from these concerts.”