Drinking rules in Delano may change before baseball season. Here’s how

Visitors to the Delano neighborhood may be able to walk around with an alcoholic beverage in hand every day of the week come baseball season.

Wichita City Council member Dalton Glasscock asked city staff to amend the ordinance that allows the year-long pilot for common consumption in the Delano area only on Fridays and Saturdays. That amendment would then be voted on by the council.

“I just want to make it easier for people to do business,” Glasscock said, “easier for people to walk in Delano, easier for people to enjoy themselves and have a different type of entertainment than just going to Old Town on the weekend or try to create a different destination center for our community.”

Since common consumption was enacted in September, the program has been popular, Glasscock and some area business owners say.

So far, seven businesses have a license with the city to participate in common consumption. Glasscock said during a recent council meeting that more have also expressed interest.

“I want to continue to add businesses,” he said, “and I want to make Delano that destination spot where restaurants and coffee shops or cocktail bars want to develop and want to invest in.”

Monarch owner Jennifer Ray said that customers are often confused when they can only take alcoholic drinks to go on Friday and Saturdays.

“There has been a very slight learning curve,” Ray said, “but the learning curve for customers really only pertains to the days the week that they can and cannot do it.”

It’s also allowed for missed opportunities. Some businesses were hoping to cash in during the annual Prairiefire Marathon, which runs through Delano.

But the marathon was on a Sunday morning, outside of the hours for common consumption in the area.

“We had the perfect customer base out there on the streets to be able to walk around and enjoy a beverage,” she said.

In the three months since the pilot has been enacted, the Wichita Police Department said it hasn’t seen any major incidents in the area as a result.

“We remain committed to monitoring activity and ensuring public safety,” police spokesperson Andrew Ford said. “Any decisions about expanding the program would ultimately be up to the Council, and we will continue to support and enforce whatever policy direction is set.”

Ray said it could be good for her business, and others, if common consumption is allowed every day, especially when the area gets busier during baseball season at Riverfront Stadium.

“It’s been something that people, for the most part, they find it to be a novelty thing, and just get a kick out of it and think it’s fun,” she said.

A date for the council to vote on the expansion has yet to be set, but Glasscock said he hoped the vote would be able to come by early spring.