"The city wants to be good stewards of the public process." Jeffery Kammerer serves on Brookhaven's audit committee, and he said that after a long night at City Hall in October. Rough Draft Atlanta reported that his committee plans a third-party assessment of how the city tells residents about infrastructure changes. That same night, the council had approved a new DeKalb County fire station on part of Blackburn Park.
Fifty days after that vote, on the evening of Wednesday, Dec. 2, the city will hold Light Up Brookhaven at Blackburn Park, 3493 Ashford Dunwoody Road, from 6 to 9 p.m. The agreement and the holiday event are on very different schedules. The holiday event is a date on the calendar, while the agreement's terms are measured in months and years.
What the council approved on Oct. 13
On Oct. 13 the Brookhaven City Council voted 3-1 to approve a 50-year intergovernmental agreement for a fire station at Blackburn Park. Council Member Madeleine Simmons cast the only no vote. The item had first been set for Sept. 8. The council deferred it then to allow more community engagement and review. In the meantime, the city wrote up a comparison of alternative sites, and DeKalb Fire Rescue officials reviewed it.
The city will lease about 1.35 acres of the park to DeKalb County for 50 years at $1 a year. The county will build, own, operate and maintain the station. The parcel is next to Jo's Grille, near where Ashford Dunwoody Road meets Johnson Ferry Road, according to Rough Draft's earlier coverage of the petition to delay the vote.
Speakers at the mayor's meeting and the council meeting said the location doesn't account for traffic at the Johnson Ferry and Ashford Dunwoody intersection or for the effect on nearby neighborhoods. Some also said they didn't hear about the pending decision until September. Mayor John Park, City Manager Christian Sigman and DeKalb Safety Director Darnell Fullum all described the agreement as a first step. They said they would work with residents to refine the plan.
The steps between the vote and a working station
Each stage of the agreement in the council packet has its own timeline. Here they are:
- The clock starts when both governments sign. The agreement takes effect on the date both the city and the county have executed it.
- The county gets 18 months to inspect the site. Starting on the effective date, the county can survey the parcel and run soil, environmental and geological tests. If it doesn't like the results "for any reason," it can terminate the agreement before the 18-month period ends.
- The city signs off on the plans. The county has to submit station plans for the city's preapproval before construction. The city then has 15 days to approve them or comment.
- Clearing waits for a permit. The city's obligation to clear the designated trees and vegetation starts within 60 days after the county gets a land-disturbance permit.
- The target for opening is five years out. The county has to use reasonable efforts to deliver a certificate of occupancy by the fifth anniversary of the effective date. If it misses that date, either side can end the agreement.
The agreement doesn't set a construction start date. It gives the county up to a year and a half to inspect the site, requires the city to approve plans before any building starts, and ties tree clearing to a land-disturbance permit. The five-year target for a working station rests on all of those steps.
What the agreement promises the rest of the park
Several provisions in the revised agreement deal with what the station will do to the park around it. The city's Oct. 14 announcement lists screening, lighting measures and reasonable efforts to limit nighttime siren use when conditions permit. According to Rough Draft, it also covers emergency signal preemption and roadway markings, lighting standards meant to reduce the effect on nearby homes, extra landscape screening and tree replacement.
Parking matters most to people who already drive to the park for tennis or a ballgame. The agreement says paved parking lost to construction will be replaced with about 50 public spaces. It also calls for a multi-use path along the Ashford Dunwoody frontage. DeKalb County has agreed to support the city's effort to acquire DeKalb County Housing Authority property on Donaldson Drive for public parking, so that as much greenspace as possible stays green along the park's Ashford Dunwoody frontage.
The 1.35 acres are a small part of a busy park. The city's Blackburn Park listing includes baseball and softball diamonds, a community garden, a mixed-use field, a picnic shelter, a playground, restrooms, tennis courts and a paved trail. The Blackburn Tennis Center says it has 18 lighted hard courts, a pro shop, and junior and adult programs.
Dec. 2 at Blackburn Park
The city's calendar lists Light Up Brookhaven for Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2026, from 6 to 9 p.m. at Blackburn Park. The city calendar is the place to check this year's program as the date gets closer.
Last year's event, held Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025, shows what it usually includes. Here's how the city described it in Rough Draft:
- Santa arriving by Children's Healthcare of Atlanta helicopter, followed by the lighting of the city's 40-foot Christmas tree
- Rabbi Brian Glusman performing and helping light the city's Hanukkah menorah and dreidel
- Photos with Santa, two live reindeer and their big red sleigh
- Local school groups caroling
- A petting zoo, train rides and winter-themed bouncy houses
- Food and adult-beverage trucks, plus hot chocolate sold by the Girl Scouts as a holiday fundraiser
Last year, the helicopter landing and the tree lighting both took place in the same park where the fire station parcel sits.
Dec. 19 through Jan. 4, the season moves to Peachtree Road
After the tree lighting, the city's holiday season moves across town. Explore Brookhaven lists Holidays in the 'Haven at Brookhaven Park, 4158 Peachtree Road NE, from Saturday, Dec. 19, 2026, through Monday, Jan. 4, 2027. Rudolph's Rink is the main attraction. Santa's Village hosts arts and crafts, Festive Food Lane has food trucks and concessions, and Grinch Games is a lawn-game area for families.
The rink has changed each year. The first season used synthetic ice. Last season it switched to real ice, ran from Dec. 20 through Jan. 4 to line up with DeKalb County's winter break, and took free online registrations for 45-minute sessions, with a limited number of walk-ups. In 2025 the city also started City Centre Santa, with Saturday-morning photos at Brookhaven City Centre, and held Santa Paws, a photo day for pets at the Brookhaven Park Dog Park. This year's listing starts one day earlier than last year's and ends on the same date. Session sign-ups go through the city's website.
The night before the lights
On Tuesday, Dec. 1, from 5 to 6 p.m., the city has a Mayor's Town Hall Meeting scheduled at Brookhaven City Centre, 4001 Peachtree Road NE. That's the evening before Light Up Brookhaven. City leaders called the agreement a first step and said they would work with residents to refine the plan. The audit committee plans to look at how the city notifies neighbors about infrastructure changes. A town hall on a weeknight lets residents raise questions about the plan for Blackburn Park, the evening before they gather there for the tree lighting.
The agreement gives the county up to 18 months from signing to survey and test the site. Light Up Brookhaven is on the city calendar for Blackburn Park on Dec. 2, from 6 to 9 p.m.
If a public project near your street has you wondering how it might affect your home's value, how buyers will see it, or how fast it might move, David Pruett follows these Brookhaven decisions closely and can walk you through what they mean for your address. Book an appointment.
