City of Bend staff is giving another look at an ordinance regulating drinking on the Deschutes River.

Unlike previous versions of the ordinance, City Police Chief Andy Jordan said, the latest one would limit the city’s ban on alcohol to just the river and not the river banks.

The potential change comes at the request of the Bend City Council. At a meeting on Wednesday, councilors said they worried that the ordinance would target those who were walking along the city’s river banks and just happened to be carrying alcohol. In one scenario, councilors said, the ordinance would have made it illegal for someone to carry a bottle of wine within 200 feet of the river, even if they were walking to a friend’s house.

In the first version of the ordinance that went to council in mid-April, alcohol was banned on the Deschutes River in Bend and within 200 feet of the river on property that is opened to the public.

People were allowed to drink alcohol along the river at private premises, such as backyards of homes or at restaurants. Alcohol was also still allowed at the Les Schwab Amphitheater for ticketed events.

With the updates, Jordan said the city can still enforce the consumption of alcohol along the river banks if police officers see someone drinking alcohol. And he noted people are not allowed to drink alcohol in parks.

In the best case, Jordan said he would like to have a law in place by June 1, but said the season doesn’t start until about mid-June.