Poway Inches Closer to Drone ‘No-Fly Zone'

Poway's mayor ultimately wants to establish a two-mile, no-fly zone around local emergencies which would carry a $1,000 fine

The Poway City Council voted 4 -1 Tuesday in favor of a temporary ordinance limiting drone activity during local emergencies like wildfires while asking the city attorney to review a permanent fix.

The ordinance has support of many local homeowners, but some worry the temporary fix over reaches and was hastily written and approved.

The current law, passed as an “interim emergency ordinance”, which means it’s only good for 45 days, is vague by design giving law enforcement “discretion” to crack down on drone operators within city limits.

Mayor Steve Vaus, who came up with the idea after seeing high profile news events of drones interfering with firefighters, says the final law will be more detailed.

“There is no chance someone is going to be busted for flying a drone that is not truly interfering with a significant public emergency” said Vaus. “The Sheriff’s Department has a clear understanding of what the intent of this is and when it is to be applied.

Several homeowners, who admitted confidence in the mayor and council said the temporary law still makes them nervous. “I generally do not like to see laws written when somebody in government says ‘trust me, we’re not going to enforce this except when we want to. Laws should be passed and uniformly enforced” said Steve Sarviel.

Vaus ultimately wants to establish a two-mile, no-fly zone around local emergencies which would carry a $1,000 fine for anyone who breaks the rules.

Vaus isn’t aware of any other local municipalities who’ve tackled the issue with these kind of local rules and fines, but he believes it will easily pass through city council at Tuesday’s meeting.

“Hopefully as the word goes out that we have this ordinance in place and we’re taking it seriously, somebody is going to think twice about whether all those YouTube views will be worth the fine and losing your $1,000 helicopter," the mayor said.
 

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