ALPINE TOWNSHIP, Mich. — The future of concerts at a popular Kent County farm remains in question after local leaders declined to fully approve a noise ordinance exemption at a meeting on Monday.
In a unanimous vote, the Alpine Township board decided to only sign off on one concert at Ed Dunneback & Girls Fruit Farm. The other three scheduled for this summer may still take place, but trustees say the business needs to better address their neighbor’s concerns.
“I know I live in a different neighborhood than probably most of you cause I’m in the Westgate neighborhood, [but] I know that when somebody is playing a lot of music, the sheriff’s department comes out and asks the people to turn the music down and they usually act,” said Greg Madura, Alpine Township supervisor. “I’m just saying, let’s move ahead, let’s work on this and hopefully it all resolves itself in the end.”
According to the township and the farm, the issue dates back to last summer, when a handful of residents began to complain about the noise created during Ed Dunneback & Girls’ monthly outdoor concerts and other events held throughout the year.
At the time, trustees instructed the farm to speak with those people.
Co-owner Stephanie Ginsberg says she did that, and with the worries in mind, she made some changes for this year’s concerts like reducing the number of shows and limiting ticket sales.
Ginsberg added that members of her family, who live next to the farm too, cannot hear any music and that the performances end no later than 9 p.m.
The township cited Ed Dunneback & Girls for a noise ordinance violation last fall, but it was later dropped.
Despite the assurances, township leaders still held reservations and said they wanted to hear how the first concert, scheduled for June 21, went before making a decision about the rest.
Ginsberg says the future of Ed Dunneback & Girls relies on "agro-tainment" like the concerts.
“Until this past winter, I lived literally 50 feet away from where the music was playing,” said Ginsberg. “I have twin 5-year-olds and a 6-year-old and if my windows were closed, I couldn't hear it. Do I think I'm a detriment to society? No, I don't think it's any more than a semi going down the road at any given time that that wouldn't cover up the noise that we're creating. We do have a special land use here for festivals, events, so on and so forth… We invite the public on our farm. We are going to have some type of noise during our busy seasons, but that again is something that's been going on for - my grandpa did that, so I don't feel like I'm reinventing the wheel here. We have become more popular and that was out of necessity. We needed to do that in order to keep the farm alive.”
Trustees will make a decision about the other concerts at a meeting next month.
Prior to Monday’s meeting, Madura said he received 79 letters in support of the farm and only one against it.
