By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
AUG. 1, 2025 | The most charitable comment was “What were they thinking?”
The subject: the city of Norcross constructing three outdoor dining platforms in front of three restaurants on Jones Street where South Peachtree Street dead-ends.
Recognize that the platforms are built right next to the constantly-used traffic lanes of Jones Street. Diner’s elbows can nearly touch the westward passing vehicles. Only a steel railing separates those dining and the vehicular traffic. The street is one of the busiest in downtown Norcross.
At another location for outdoor dining on the sidewalk on South Peachtree, in front of Mojitos, at least the autos parked diagonally separate the eating patrons from traffic. Not so on Jones Street. Diners can literally touch cars passing by.
Other comments about this construction we have heard:
“Who came up with this lame-brained idea?”
“This is the most stupid decision we have seen out of City Council in recent memory.”
“It’s unsafe. Some vehicle is going to malfunction and injure people there. Perhaps a drunk driver will lose control and crash into the tables. And the city will be sued, have to pay no telling how much for that liability in allowing this construction.”
“You won’t see me dining there.”
“Who wants to eat a meal with nearby exhaust fumes?”
“Wonder who made the motion on the council?”
And the cost paid by taxpayers? Approximately $40,000, one councilman said. The mayor, who did not vote in the 5-0 decision, gave a lower figure, $30,000. No matter how much it cost, it’s a wasteful expenditure and will haunt the council until the platforms are removed.
Norcross officials say that the inspiration for this by-the-street dining came from both Suwanee and Lawrenceville. Yes, both cities allow a limited amount of dining on sidewalks, but not as unsafe as this monstrosity of platforms in Norcross.
You might ask: does this amount to a subsidy for the three restaurants benefitting from this expanded dining area? What will the city do now for other restaurants wanting some “gimme” from the city, to balance out their appropriations to the dining industry?
Oh yes, there’s another consideration. Often talk before the City Council is of the need for more parking spaces from downtown merchants. Here the city now suddenly eliminated four parking spaces to construct the dining platforms. With all the talk of the need for more parking spaces, this move seems ill-advised and counter-productive.
This is the same Norcross council that made Britt Avenue one way eastward, to allow a few more parking spaces. This decision is an unsafe one, since all patrons of the Norcross Library have to exit on heavily-vehicled Buford Highway. With Britt Avenue having two-way traffic, library patrons living west of the library could return home much safer on far-less-traveled Britt Avenue.
Now that the Jones Street platforms have been built, it’s only a matter of time before incidents happen here. Any incidents here will point directly to this unfortunate decision by the city. It would be in the best interest of the city for the Council to recognize what a bad decision this was, and tear down those platforms, have less liability, and allow council members to sleep better at night.
Yes, what were they thinking!
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