The Neighborhood Planning Unit for the Old Fourth Ward meets on Monday.
NPU-M, as it’s called, typically reviews applications for alcohol permits and special events at its meetings. The committee then makes a recommendation to the city as to whether or not the application should be approved.
One special event up for review, the Sweet Auburn Heritage Festival, has drawn complaints in the past, said NPU-M Vice Chair Fiona Sites-Bowen.
She said businesses have complained that they lose customers when streets are blocked off. Trash is left behind by festivalgoers on neighboring streets. Businesses aren’t notified in time of street closures. And “a lot of times, there’s really serious traffic issues,” Sites-Bowen said.
“It’s been an ongoing issue for a couple years,” she said.
She said the committee wants the organizers to step up.
“We’d really like to see them contribute something to the neighborhood,” she said.
This year, the Sweet Auburn Heritage Festival is scheduled for Nov. 3-4.
Several restaurants are also applying for alcohol permits:
- Amorous
- Cinko
- The Ritz Carlton
- Hudson Grille
The NPU-M meeting will be Monday, Sept. 24 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Helene S. Mills Sr. Multipurpose Facility, 515 John Wesley Dobbs Ave. The public is invited to attend.
