No fake ID required: Wichita considers change to let kids in on the nightclub scene
Wichita is contemplating a rewrite of the city’s alcohol ordinance to allow children and teens into large nightclubs where they’re currently banned.
While minors are allowed in restaurants that also serve alcohol and in microbreweries, the change in city code, scheduled for a vote Tuesday, would create a new licensing category for large entertainment venues that sell more booze than food.
That would mean The Wave, The Cotillion and other large hangouts would be allowed to have people under 21 on the premises when alcohol is being sold, under the following circumstances:
▪ Persons between the ages of 18 to 21 would be allowed in the clubs until midnight on any given night.
▪ Persons under 18 would be allowed in the clubs until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays only. They’d be allowed until 11 p.m. on other nights.
▪ Any shows extending past midnight would have to be 21 and older.
▪ The clubs would have to give the police department advance notice when they’d be open to the under-21 set.
To qualify for the new license, clubs would have to have a minimum seating capacity of at least 850. They’d also be required to have video surveillance and employee training in keeping legal-age patrons from simply handing off drinks to underage members of the crowd.
The proposed change has been sought by the operators of local drinking venues for several years. But it got sidelined by the COVID-19 pandemic when drinking establishments were shut down by state and county health orders to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus.
“This was requested by the industry and we’ve been working with primarily The Wave, but we had talked to other large capacity venues,” said City Manager Robert Layton. “In 2019, we started work, but it went on hold through the pandemic.”
Council member Brandon Johnson said he has been working with the clubs on changing the ordinance since 2018, after going to an event with his children and being told he couldn’t bring them in with him because of city regulations.
“There was an event that I went to in 2017 at Lucky’s (on Douglas) and I had my kids with me,” he said. “I remember walking up to the door and them saying, ‘Your kids can’t come in.’ Literally, there was pizza and soda that day.”
“If they have a seemingly family friendly event in these spaces, they can’t have anyone under 21 in the space,” he added. “If there are teenagers that want to be there, even if it’s a dry event — no alcohol — they couldn’t have them in that space just because of the way it’s zoned and what came with it. So even if they were just serving soda and popcorn, kids couldn’t go.”
Johnson said he’s not concerned that the proposed change would allow minors increased access to alcohol, because the clubs can use armbands to differentiate between those who can and can’t drink.
“Especially venues like The Wave and The Cotillion, they have ways to make sure you are identified,” Johnson said. “They do their own checks because they can get fined by not only the city, but the state, so they are going above and beyond to make sure that (underage drinking) doesn’t happen. “
The relaxation of rules about kids in clubs is the city’s only significant addition to a proposed rewrite of the alcohol ordinance, City Attorney Jennifer Magana said.
The other revisions are designed to bring the city code into line with recent changes to state law, she said.
Last year, Gov. Laura Kelly issued an executive order to try to help liquor-by-the-drink establishments weather the pandemic by allowing them to sell pre-made cocktails for offsite consumption and at drive-throughs.
The Legislature and Kelly made those provisions permanent earlier this year.
This story was originally published July 4, 2021 at 4:09 AM with the headline "No fake ID required: Wichita considers change to let kids in on the nightclub scene."
