West Hollywood’s recently passed ordinance regulating the use of drones appears to conflict with Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) rules.
On Dec. 17, the FAA issued a “fact sheet” warning cities and states that they must not adopt drone regulations that would conflict with those established by the FAA. A key FAA regulation requires that owners of drones register them with the FAA. An ordinance approved by the West Hollywood City Council at its Dec. 21 meeting would require those flying drones in WeHo to register them with the city and acquire a permit to operate them. The FAA specifically forbids local governments from requiring such registration.
The city’s ordinance bans drones, also known as unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), from flying 350 feet or less over a school during school hours and from flying over city parks, City Hall and the local sheriff’s and fire department stations. Drones also are banned from flying more than 400 feet above the ground and out of sight of the drone operator. The FAA fact sheet says that local governments must consult with the FAA before enacting such rules.
“Substantial air safety issues are raised when state or local governments attempt to regulate the operation or flight of aircraft,” the FAA said in its statement. “If one or two municipalities enacted ordinances regulating UAS in the navigable airspace and a significant number of municipalities followed suit, fractionalized control of the navigable airspace could result. In turn, this ‘patchwork quilt’ of differing restrictions could severely limit the flexibility of FAA in controlling the airspace and flight patterns, and ensuring safety and an efficient air traffic flow.
Councilmember Lauren Meister recommended that the city regulate drones after several incidents involving them. The most notable was the crash of a drone into a power line in October on Sunset Boulevard and Larrabee, knocking out electric power to hundreds of SoCal Edison customers. A WeHo resident appeared before the council to complain that a drone was flying too close to his apartment balcony, compromising his privacy.
The FAA requires drone owners to pay a $5 registration fee with a credit card or debit card. Owners who have operated their drones before Dec. 21 have until Feb. 19, 2016 to register. If the drone is purchased after Dec. 21, it must be registered before it is operated outdoors.
A drone owner who fails to register it can face civil penalties of up to $27,500. Criminal penalties include fines of up to $250,000 and/or imprisonment for up to three years.
This is another reason why both the city AND this publication need an informed tech consultant / contributor.
Looks like the consequences I predicted in my comment made about the first article on this have been passed. WeHo passed laws which were out of date before even being proposed by a city council which is totally uninformed on the issue. Let’s not forget that the law is outside of its regulatory domain and clearly under that of the Federal AVIATION Administration. Hello legal hell. They need to repeal this immediately or face the wrath of the Feds for exceeding their authority.
Lauren made a good effort at regulating these drones and spoke of the day gay marriage was passed by the Supreme Court and all of us stood in park watching the drones above wondering if they would fall on our heads. I’m quite surprised that there was not more research into the subject or that the other council members or city attorney allowed this to pass without asking more questions. Seems like nobody on the council or the city attorney had a clue about the FAA rules and regulations.
I wonder if the City even considered checking with the FAA to see if there were already rules in place before making their own. I highly doubt it. The way they operate this City is like it is a separate little independent entity.
Did the Nanny City overreach once again? I’m shocked. It would be a great idea to have long term council members who would never make such rookie mistakes or maybe an attorney at city council meetings who would advise the council on the legality of their ideas and thereby prevent costly mistakes (as in the deputy fiasco). We could call such a person a “City Attorney”.