However the decision on whether to issue permits lies with the city government itself.

The landowner plans to develop a 5.4-hectare park between Reidi tee and Kadriorg (see map below), intending the land use to be for fairs and an amusement park which might function for several months over the summer.

Events already planned for the zone include a dinosaur exhibition, a Midsummer celebration, a traveling circus and a street food festival.

The first of these, a spring fair, is due to open Saturday, April 19. The fair was announced March 12, but this was followed by local residents raising several concerns: They had not been previously informed of the plan; there had been no coordination for organizing a public event; and also the various inconveniences to residents the event would cause.

However, the district government is not in favor of the idea.
A discussion took place between the landowner and local residents, initiated by the City Center district government on Monday this week.

´Following that meeting, City Center district elder Sander Andla (Reform) said the district government does not support issuing a permit for public events in the area. "After today's discussion, it's hard for me to imagine the city granting permits for these events," Andla wrote on his social media account.

Andla noted that while the city center government does not endorse the coordination of planned public events in the area, the final decision lies with the City of Tallinn office.

"As a result, having listened to the feedback from nearby residents and reviewed the letters I have been getting in recent days, I have decided on behalf of the city center district not to approve the public events planned for this area (Reidi Park spring fair, the amusement park, and Tivoli Baltic)," he continued. "I believe this decision will serve as a strong input to the Tallinn city office."

Andla told ERR that the public event organizers did not convincingly explain to residents how noise pollution would be minimized.

He said: "It was evident on-site that residents weren't assured their quality of life wouldn't deteriorate if a 'Tivoli' were to be built there. Consequently, after Monday's meeting, from the city center district's viewpoint, I concluded that it would be reasonable not to issue permits for these events."

Andla brought out that during the course of the public discussion, the developer used Riga's Tivoli park as an example of how noise control works. "But as could be seen in the picture, that Tivoli is in a shopping center parking lot. I got the impression that they were comparing apples and oranges," Andla said.

City office representatives were also present at Monday's meeting, and afterward, they sent a feedback questionnaire to residents who had not attended.

Andla noted he is in communication with the city government but could not say when a decision would be made.

Currently, the city is processing the April 19 event alone, plus the amusement park from April to May, but the problems raised also apply to other planned public events, he said.

"In reading various letters and listening to the ideas shared at the meeting, it is clear that local residents want to be part of the dialogue early on, to be informed — and not to find out via social media that someone plans to set up a Tivoli next to their homes," he said.

Local concerns range from noise pollution to nearby presence of China embassy

One local resident, Tiit Kuuskmäe, spoke to Vikerraadio show "Vikerhommik" on the concerns locals have regarding the planned entertainment area.

Kuuskmäe said he lives about 150–200 meters from the site.

He noted that he learned about the event planned for April 19 just over a week ago.
He said: "Today is April 9, and the opening event is already supposed to be on April 19. Local residents are not considered significant enough to be informed at all, in order that they could somehow react."

Kuuskmäe stressed that he is keen not to paint the situation as some sort of major conflict. "Let us view this rather as a negotiation that has got off to a difficult start," he added.

According to Kuuskmäe, Kadriorg residents see no need for an amusement park in their neighborhood. The main concerns he itemized were light and noise pollution, parking, littering, intoxicated individuals, the impact on local wildlife, and also the functioning of the nearby Chinese embassy.

He said: "Reidi tee already exceeds the legal noise limits, and this would add even more noise and probably light pollution as well. Many families have bought homes in this area, paying a pretty high premium, taking out mortgages, and doing so under the assumption that this is a quiet and peaceful area."

Kuuskmäe pointed out parking as another concern.

"These streets are quite narrow and not everyone has their own parking spot, so cars get parked on the street," he said. "These streets will simply get clogged up. There's also the question of how emergency services — ambulances or fire trucks — could get through if needed."

Residents are also worried about garbage the entertainment area might generate, he said. "When events are held at the Song Festival Grounds, cars are already being parked between the Kiikri buildings, and local residents have ended up sort of 'sponsoring' the events by having to deal with the garbage left behind."

Kuuskmäe noted that drunk people will likely come to be associated with the area. He also pointed out that his home is located in a UNESCO World Heritage zone.

Locals have also raised concerns about animals, not just pets but also wildlife living in the area.

"This may sound a bit odd, but this is actually part of the living environment we're used to," said Kuuskmäe. "This morning, on my way to the radio studio, I personally saw a hare on the very plot where the entertainment park is planned for. We also get foxes and squirrels in our neighborhood. There are also three protected species: The Northern bat, the Nathusius's pipistrelle and the Common pipistrelle."

Kuuskmäe added that Kadriorg itself should be regarded as a strategically important area for Estonia.

"There are several embassies located there. The Chinese embassy would be the closest to this potential source of noise. If we consider the present-day security situation, where the position of small countries is increasingly being questioned, then I would ask — if a Chinese diplomat writes a dispatch about events in Estonia — diplomats are human after all; when they write a report to Beijing and give their personal impression of things, do we want them to be doing so while a thumping bassline is rattling his window?" Kuuskmäe queried.

Reidi tee itself opened in 2019, replacing a former more run-down road, and was landscaped alongside newly built apartments in the area between the seashore and Narva mnt. On the other side of Narva mnt lies the older part of Kadriorg.

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