The City Council on Wednesday voted in favor of outdoor entertainment at an East Pinner Street business.

Several council members said more entertainment is just what’s needed for a more vibrant downtown.

“We have to be willing to do things that bring people and make them want to come,” Mayor Linda T. Johnson said.

Derl’z is owned by Donna Perry, whose brother owns the property and formerly owned the business.

The Planning Commission voted down the conditional use permit request at its meeting last month on the basis of noise concerns affecting the nearby Kingsboro neighborhood. City staff had recommended denial of the request.

But on Wednesday, Perry made the case that her business is mostly surrounded by industrial buildings, train tracks and wooded areas and that a large volume of truck traffic comes through daily. The music would take place only during special events and fundraisers, not on a regular basis, she said.

“I’m trying to bring in revenue and tax dollars for our city,” Perry said, adding she has planned outdoor events there in the past, when her brother owned it, and “never once received a complaint.”

Councilman Lue Ward was the lone vote against the request on Wednesday. He said the pastor of a nearby church, New Jerusalem Apostolic Ministries, told him he hadn’t talked to Perry. Ward said he had concerns about the two uses clashing on Sundays.

“I feel that would inconvenience him,” Ward said.

Councilman Roger Fawcett said he believed Perry, who was once the president of the Kingsboro Civic League, would do the right thing.

“I don’t think she would do anything to create a problem with her neighbors,” he said, adding that police can enforce the noise ordinance and City Council can revoke the conditional use permit if it becomes a problem.

“To expand your business in this way is what we hope other businesses will do,” Councilman Tim Johnson said.

Mayor Johnson added that music is a way to bring people in.

“If you want to bring life to a city, you bring music to a city,” she said.