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Told I couldn't Fly Over Resort....

So many issues at play here.
1 - if u are a pro operator, you should have contacted the management of the resort & asked for permission, given details of yr insurance, license & registration #.
2 - being asked to do a job ( pro or otherwise) has no bearing on its legality.
3 - the FAA is responsible for who can & cannot fly in the airspace. But private property owners would have a good case in law over privacy and insurance, especially if they entertain the public (not sure how this has played out in court of law in practice)
4 - not sure how it works in the US, but you do need permission from the owner of the property that you takeoff & land at. I’ve never been too concerned about takeoff/landing in a public place but it could add to your woes if you ended up in court.
5 - copyright applies to photographs of property & people, the owner of property has the right to ask you not to photograph their property for privacy reasons or prophet.
6 - flying over people not part of yr operation except with a qualified drone is illegal in most countries as far as I know.
All said, I’ve videoed & photographed ski resorts from the periphery in CANADA without an issues but I’d say in all cases, confrontation is not an option. Step back, apologize, go fly somewhere else, or come back another day at a different spot.
 
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So after all of this and that. Where you took off from and did not. If you were 107 you know the facts. You guys need to start handing these out. We have a new sheriff taking over this week and some new officers. They will each get one.
 

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Greg at Pilot Inst has 2 different videos taking about this and here is the conclusion. Nobody---except "no fly zones" --flying over people---etc on basic rules--owns the airspace above them and this was proven in court years ago. I forget the name of the case. They cannot stop you unless you are breaking some type of law. (peeping tom---stalking---spying). Just as they cannot stop a private plane from flying over their house.

The problem is that a few LEOs take it upon themselves to enforce a law that does not exist and in both cases PI is involved with "Go fund me" accounts to fight it. One was in New York State and the other was Louisiana. Both people were arrested and prosecuted because they stood their ground. One was legal FPV and the other flew his drone over the corner of a neighboring property where the 2 neighbors don't get along.
 
There is a spot, outside of a national park. At sunrise or sunset, if I am close I will launch my drone and fly straight up and peak over a ridge to capture a small lake below and a volcano, both of which are in the national park. Again the spot I launch is public. I have had a park ranger stop and tell me I could not do that. It escalated to him calling his supervisor and forest rangers. I being the guy I am, replaced my battery and took off again. Did a short little flight and politely explained l had full rights to do what I was doing and would continue to when I was there at the right time. I then landed and explained the law to all and then started showing them the drone and in the end had a couple of them flying my drone. Long story short, once my passive aggressive side was done I made friends.
I wear a safety vest when flying my drone and that has been a big thing. It gives you an air of authority. Even at my house I wear it. I have been on private mall property and have had security come up, and just talk to me politely and “assume” I was legal because of the vest!

When I have been challenged, my response has been to tell them once the drone is on the ground I will talk to them. Then pull my phone out and show them there are no restrictions. I have never yet had a bad confrontation. But I have made a lot of new friends and have educated them.
 
Unfortunately that entire area is privately owned, including the "county road" by which I assume you mean Willow Draw Road, which is owned by CANYONS RESORT VILLAGE ASSOCIATION INC (Parcel # WWDDAM-WWD8). So they were entitled to request that you not fly from their property.

View attachment 157841
I learned to ski in Park City, and haven't been there in years, but I'm pretty sure that Canyons Golf Club is several miles from Park City Ski Resort. This photo doesn't even show the ski runs as they are no where close.
 
I learned to ski in Park City, and haven't been there in years, but I'm pretty sure that Canyons Golf Club is several miles from Park City Ski Resort. This photo doesn't even show the ski runs as they are no where close.
Those red lines are lifts, the blue lines are ski runs. Canyons ski area has been there for 50 years.
 
Are they on Forest Service land? If so, it’s not private property, it’s a permitted operational area- if you walk in from outside, you would be breaking FS rules for it as they hold a special use permit that allows them to restrict access as deemed necessary, but it’s not legally “trespassing “. As for what you did flying in from outside of their area and not controlling the drone while standing inside of it, they don’t have jurisdiction nor of the air over them. If they own the land outright, they can only ask you to not physically stand in their property. Flying over it is the FAA’s jurisdiction.
Actually just because it's under Forest Service control does not automatically make it a no fly zone. It has to be designated specifically such as they do with National Forests and Parks.
 
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So after all of this and that. Where you took off from and did not. If you were 107 you know the facts. You guys need to start handing these out. We have a new sheriff taking over this week and some new officers. They will each get one.
This handout is great, is there one for commercial/Part 107 as well?
 
I see a lot of questions and issues here.
1) Is the road part of park property?
2) Did you keep your drone within line of sight and able to see it the entire flight?
3) If you were on the country road how did security know where you were flying?

Vic Moss is correct. You can launch and land from public property usually without restriction and fly in FAA's airspace as long as its not restricted. But if the road is park property then they can prohibit drone flights from there.

As far as the guy advising you to tell the guy to "pound sand" the last thing you want to do is mouth off to a Park City security guard who could have you cited for tresspassing and have you banned from the property for life. You don't want to do that. Always be polite and respectful, even if you have a disagreement, particularly with authorities.
If you're not a skier who cares?
There are other resorts there besides.
Park City is just where the cool kids like to hang.
 
Actually just because it's under Forest Service control does not automatically make it a no fly zone. It has to be designated specifically such as they do with National Forests and Parks.
Correct, unless the FAA says so, it is not a no fly zone and he can fly the drone there, but the pilot could be physically excluded from walking or being physically inside the ski area’s permit boundary area if on FS land, or told no trespassing if it is privately owned.
 
Those red lines are lifts, the blue lines are ski runs. Canyons ski area has been there for 50 years.
Canyons opened in 1968 as Park West. I've skied there numerous times. It is almost 5 miles from Park City Mountain Ski Resort.
The lifts I mentioned are those at Park City Mountain Resort. The lifts you refer to are Canyons' lifts. The OP said he was filming at Park City, not Canyons.
 
Canyons opened in 1968 as Park West. I've skied there numerous times. It is almost 5 miles from Park City Mountain Ski Resort.
The lifts I mentioned are those at Park City Mountain Resort. The lifts you refer to are Canyons' lifts. The OP said he was filming at Park City, not Canyons.
There is no ambiguity about the location. The lift in view is the Orange Bubble Express at the Canyons. The OP even provided coordinates. The road in question is Willow Draw Road, and the entire area is privately owned, including the road.
 
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Here we godon again, yet another debate with no resolution regarding the right to fly.

It's been discussed many times here already that many "authorities" don't know (or care} what the law is. They protect their employers. In these cases, asserting one's rights can get to be very expensive.

For those that think an assertive posture is called for, consider the possibility of backlash. We drone pilots are a small, not very beloved minority. What do you think it would take to change the law to allow landowners to control their airspace for drones? I shudder to think about it...
 
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Here we godon again, yet another debate with no resolution regarding the right to fly.

It's been discussed many times here already that many "authorities" don't know (or care} what the law is. They protect their employers. In these cases, asserting one's rights can get to be very expensive.

For those that think an assertive posture is called for, consider the possibility of backlash. We drone pilots are a small, not very beloved minority. What do you think it would take to change the law to allow landowners to control their airspace for drones? I shudder to think about it...
It's not about the airspace - the OP launched from private property.
 
It's not about the airspace - the OP launched from private property.
Agree SAR104. I was about to chime in after reading all the above comments. Then you made the key statement I was going to comment on. The one fact that determined the legality of this flight was the take off location. And once it was determined that the resort owned the road, the debate was over.
 
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Agree SAR104. I was about to chime in after reading all the above comments. Then you made the key statement I was going to comment on. The one fact that determined the legality of this flight was the take off location. And once it was determined that the resort owned the road, the debate was over.
Yes. Although also worth noting, in terms of legality, that flying from private land is not illegal per se, but the land owner is certainly entitled to tell you to stop.
 
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As others have said, there is a difference between flying over and takeoff/landing while on their property. They can restrict the latter for sure.
I'm sure the reason for this though is that they don't want all these FPV and other action shot seeking skiers bringing their drones up to grab that perfect action shot. I can imagine how that would be should someone be flying an FPV and crash into a non-participant skier. With the range of today's drones though I'm sure you could have found a place outside of their property then put a spotter on the property to assist since as you stated it was for a paid 107 job.
 
As others have said, there is a difference between flying over and takeoff/landing while on their property. They can restrict the latter for sure.
I'm sure the reason for this though is that they don't want all these FPV and other action shot seeking skiers bringing their drones up to grab that perfect action shot. I can imagine how that would be should someone be flying an FPV and crash into a non-participant skier. With the range of today's drones though I'm sure you could have found a place outside of their property then put a spotter on the property to assist since as you stated it was for a paid 107 job.
A spotter doesn't relieve the pilot of the requirement to maintain VLOS.
 
I was in a resort in Puerto Rico and security came and told me just not to take photos from people on the beach and try not to fly over the beach low. I told them thank you and continued flying.
 
Of course you can't fly over people. You can't trespass on private property. So, flying over the ski resort would be a bad idea. Flying from the perimeter where you wouldn't have clear view of the drone and it's surrounding environment would also be inadvisable. A lost drone would be irretrievable.
Can't fly over people? Ski resort bad idea? I see it all the time! So someone is getting authorization.
What about a plane or helicopter flying over this same area will the ski petrol also tell them now don't you do that?
Do they now control the air space as well as the FAA?
 
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