Dunwoody, GA Public Conduct: Public Alcohol Use (2026)

Section 4-285(b) makes it unlawful "to drink any vinous, malt or other alcoholic beverage while on any streets, sidewalks, alleyways, parking areas or other open areas operated and controlled by the city," and extends the ban to any MARTA station grounds and to city parks, with narrow exceptions for Nature Art Center-sponsored functions, permitted festivals, and licensed locations. Section 4-285(a) separately bars opening or consuming alcohol within 100 feet of any package store or within that store's own property line. Section 4-285(f) closes the loop, making it unlawful to "consume alcoholic beverages or transport open containers of alcoholic beverages on or upon public areas, except where otherwise authorized in this Code or by state law."

The Code's one carve-out sits in the licensing chapter, Sections 4-140 through 4-147, created by Ordinance No. 2020-03-05. Those sections let a patron carry a drink out of a licensed establishment only inside the city's two designated entertainment districts: the Dunwoody Village Entertainment District around Dunwoody Hall and The Shops at Dunwoody, and the Perimeter Center Entertainment District covering Ashford Lane, Perimeter Mall and adjoining properties. Inside those boundaries a licensee may pour a drink into a marked clear plastic cup capped at 16 fluid ounces, one per person at a time, purchased from a licensee inside the district, and not carried past midnight. Drinking directly from an open can, bottle or glass on the street is still prohibited even inside an entertainment district.

Violations run under Chapter 4's general penalty, Section 4-253: a fine of not less than $500.00 and/or up to six months' incarceration.