Georgetown and Jett Ferry would get to-go drink districts and Perimeter Center's would grow north and east under an ordinance that had its first read Oct. 26.

Dunwoody is moving toward letting people carry a drink from a restaurant or bar through two more parts of the city. A proposed ordinance would create entertainment districts in Georgetown and around Jett Ferry Road. It would also enlarge the Perimeter Center district to take in all of the area’s commercial blocks.

The Dunwoody City Council heard the first read of the ordinance at its meeting Monday, Oct. 26. There was no vote. Deputy Community Development Director Paul Leonhardt presented it and answered council members’ questions, according to the city’s meeting summary.

The ordinance needs a second read before the council can adopt it. The city had not posted the agenda for its next council meeting as of Saturday. If adopted, the change takes effect immediately.

What would change

The staff memo to the council sets out four moves:

  • Dunwoody Village: no change to the existing district.
  • Perimeter Center: the existing district grows north and east “to include all commercial areas of Perimeter Center.”
  • Georgetown: a new district covering all commercial areas of the Georgetown neighborhood.
  • Jett Ferry: a new district covering the commercial areas on both sides of Jett Ferry Road.

Dunwoody created the Village district in 2020 and the Perimeter Center district in 2022, according to the city’s entertainment districts page. The ordinance says the city has run both “without experiencing major concerns.”

Where the new lines would run

The draft ordinance describes each boundary street by street. In short:

District Rough boundaries in the draft
Georgetown Interstate 285 to the south; the Georgetown Shopping Center, Chamblee Dunwoody Road and Old Springhouse Lane; North Shallowford Road and Village Drive, taking in North Shallowford Plaza; east to the Perimeter Gardens at Georgetown apartments
Jett Ferry Jett Ferry Road, Dunwoody Club Drive and Mount Vernon Road, including the Williamsburg at Dunwoody shopping center
Perimeter Center (enlarged) North to Central Parkway, Crowne Pointe Parkway, Ridgeview Road, Ashwood Parkway and Ashford Gables Drive; east along Perimeter Center East and Lincoln Parkway to the north fork of Nancy Creek; I-285 to the south; the DeKalb County line to the west

The city’s proposed district maps are attached to the agenda item.

Why homes are inside the lines

The council asked for this approach. At its July 27 meeting, staff showed four options that Council Member Rob Price had requested:

  • no change
  • expansion parcel by parcel
  • expansion district-wide
  • expansion citywide

Council members preferred the district-wide option, the memo says. It draws easy-to-recognize boundaries like the Village district’s instead of tracing individual parcels.

That means some non-commercial property falls inside the new lines. The memo says this “will allow residents and visitors to walk home or to the hotel with their to-go cups.” It adds that clear boundaries will help people remember where they can take a drink. They will also help police officers decide whether a violation is taking place.

What stays the same

The ordinance redraws the districts and rewrites the list of exceptions. It does not change the other rules for drinks in the districts.

Within any district, the to-go rules do not apply in:

  • active construction sites, which must be fenced off from the rest of the district
  • parking garages, above or below ground
  • rapid transit stations, including the Dunwoody MARTA station and adjacent MARTA property

Any property owner can still ban drinks on their own property. Under the city’s current rules, restaurants must serve to-go drinks in clear plastic cups with “Cheers!” stickers the city provides. Any business that lets customers leave with a drink must post an 11-by-17-inch sign at the door.

City staff are preparing a communications push to explain the new boundaries to businesses, residents and visitors, the memo says.

What it means for you

  • If you live in or near Georgetown or off Jett Ferry Road, people could soon walk past your street with a drink bought at a nearby restaurant. The draft lines include some homes and apartments.
  • If you run a restaurant or bar in either area, you could sell drinks to go once the ordinance passes, using the city’s cups and stickers and posting the door sign.
  • If you want to weigh in, the second read is the council’s next step. Council meetings include public comment, 3 minutes a speaker. Council agendas are posted on the city’s agenda site.

Our neighborhood guides cover Georgetown, Jett Ferry and Perimeter Center. For where to go out, see live music and nightlife. The council approved the Georgetown small area plan earlier in October.