Following news from Gov. Brian Kemp that restaurants would be allowed to reopen on Monday (April 27), Brookhaven has decided to allow restaurants to employ outdoor seating in parking lots.
Brookhaven Mayor John Ernst signed an executive order that allows local restaurants to use tents and parking lots as outdoor seating areas in a move to allow better social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the AJC. . It is not a requirement for restaurants to enact this precaution.
Ernst said the move was “making the best of a bad situation.”
“For the next 90 days, Brookhaven will embrace alfresco dining,” he said in a press release. “With this executive order, restaurants have a unique strategy they can utilize to reopen yet do so responsibly.”
The temporary, 90-day outdoor-restaurant-operations permit overrides city code, which prevents the use of tents and parking lots for dining purposes. Restaurants can apply for the permit for free by email, according to WSB-TV, and will then be allowed to set up a 10 foot by 10 foot tent in their parking lot.
“Now that the state of Georgia has enacted a statewide mandate to reopen businesses,” Ernst said, “this clarifying language and executive order gives restauranteurs solutions as we collectively fight to contain the coronavirus.”