Parking lots, except for the public roads and signs are private property. You can't stand in the roads or near the signs, so you will be flying from private property. If the owner doen't know your flying from his property, your safe, If he knows and doesn't care , you safe. If he knows and asks you to stop, you have to stop and even leave the lot if he asks you. If you don't, you can be arrested for trespassing. You won't be arrested for flying the drone, just trespassing.
If its the Stop sign placed on Public Property next to the public street you are about to enter sure they can ticket you. If it is one of those placed on private Property They can't ticket you. Many towns like mine will make you "donate" Part of your big new Parking lot So that they can maintain control of the traffic. In that case if you run a stop sign on the property- you will be getting a ticket.
The better question is if it's illegal to fly from a parking lot and the answer is generally no. Be sure to check your local laws just in case there is some sort of ordinance. Whether you can be ticketed in a parking lot is entire up to the laws in your area. There is no such thing as a "public area." Either the property is private or it's public and in many places, private property is often open to the public which means the owner controls the property completely but there may be some minor exceptions such as they have others who can also enforce those rights. Even so, public property is such to time, place, and manner. The city owns a park lot or a parking garage but that doesn't mean you can set up a tent and camp there or pull in your car and starting working on it.
Absolutely you can stand on the easement. Usually the easement cuts across private property and even the sidewalk that is on private property is not always restricted. If there is a city sign or utility pole, you can likely be there. And that includes the median.
I completely agree with you. Until the entire county park is marked off as prohibited. Not trying to defend those who push the boundaries but there are so many places where it makes sense for us to fly but we can't....so the opposite is going to start happening; so let's get prepared. Because as you know, the number of legal places to fly from only gets smaller, not bigger. It's just a matter of time.
I think the common scenario is, remember when we were kids, the church and church parking lot (private property) was pretty much always a place you ride your bike or toss the baseball. Church was only on Sundays, all during the week the entire place was empty and unused, no signs were posted....even the police would drive by and wave. Never got permission from anyone. Better to see kids playing there than committing crimes. Today, it's a different world I guess.
Absolutely not true.
I feel for you. The greater the crowds, the more you have to fight for space. When I lived in the city, I would go out at daybreak. After the prostitutes and the dealers had a full night. When the daylight came, they were gone and there was such solitude. I aways wore a bandana and tried to make myself look like someone you wouldn't want to mess with. People were nice and showed me respect. Dealers would just walk by me and crawl into their holes in an abandon house to get some sleep. Some of those neighborhoods had the best architecture and old finds. Police were glad I wasn't doing anything that warrant there attention and left me alone. I have had the police sit in their cars and watch me at times. Maybe they were there to protect me. Lol. Knowledge of the area and common sense goes a long way. Here in WV. I can fly more places than most people, even places that are off limits nation wide with permission. Lets just say they don't push the rules as much as long as you don't cause a problem. Places with few people are more personal and friendly. They do want you to respect their privacy to a greater degree.
