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Recreational Drones Laws : How may layers exist?

sandy.vb

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So it turns out that FAA and the State Level guidelines for recreational flying of drones are only the first two layers of rules. One also needs to worry about the city regulations. But to my dismay, even that is not it. I live in the San Fransisco Bay area, was trying to fly my DJI Mavic at the Rancho San Antonio Open Space Preserve (which is absolutely out of any FAA or State conflict zones for drones, and the city of Cupertino is cool about drones). However, before my drone took off, I was approached by two cops, who said the drones were banned in the preserve because the area fell under "Midpeninsula Regional Open Space Preserve", a local district parkland organization authorized to legislate laws over regional parklands, and they had banned drones in the area. I googled and figured out there's one regional parkland organization for nearly every chunk of territory around the area I live in. So the never ending saga of recreational drone flying gets one notch sadder. Regional Parklands is one more layer of laws we need to worry about before our drone takes off.

My question : Are there more layers to worry about as far as recreational flying of drone goes, or this is it?
 
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My question : Are there more layers to worry about as far as recreational flying of drone goes, or this is it?
Well, it's always prudent to check with the property owner and/or managing agency to determine if they allow drones to take off and land on their property. It's not necessarily "another layer".
 
Are there more layers to worry about as far as recreational flying of drone goes, or this is it?
Depends on the municipality. Here in PA we can fly at 1 or 2 State Parks and the local County parks are "hit & miss"
 
Well, it's always prudent to check with the property owner and/or managing agency to determine if they allow drones to take off and land on their property. It's not necessarily "another layer".

I agree, but the property has to be private for me to go and check. This preserve looks like an open piece of land with mountains and hiking trails. There is no way one can guess that drones might be banned here, unless they are stopped by the cops (by which time it is very late).

I guess my larger question is that if I'm standing on a piece of land looking forward to fly my drone, is there a checklist to refer that will make me 100% compliant to all the drone legalities?
 
I agree, but the property has to be private for me to go and check. This preserve looks like an open piece of land with mountains and hiking trails. There is no way one can guess that drones might be banned here, unless they are stopped by the cops (by which time it is very late).

I guess my larger question is that if I'm standing on a piece of land looking forward to fly my drone, is there a checklist to refer that will make me 100% compliant to all the drone legalities?
No. Unfortunately, there's no single compilation of all the regulations that apply to all properties. This would be the same answer if you were participating in other activities such as bicycling, horse riding, swimming, fishing, etc.

You would always need to check with the agency that manages the property. The rules are often easy to find on the agency's website.

Rancho San Antonio Preserve
 
Every place seem to do whatever they want, which often, sadly, means forbidding drones flights.
 
Where I am, my city has adopted the State (Wisconsin) regulations, which has adopted the FAA/Federal regulations with a couple clarifications. I have heard that the local Chief is considering additional local regulations. But so far hasn't published any. So as a recreational flyer, I will comply with at least the FAA/State regulations, in addition to certain regulated areas such as Nation and State Parks, Wild life refuges, etc. it is important that we do our do diligence for the area we plan to fly in, any keep in mind that the regulation process is very fluid right now.
 
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