Manchester Council Tables Ordinance Banning Drone Flights

MANCHESTER, NJ -- A proposed ordinance that would have banned the use of drone aircraft in Manchester Township has been tabled for revisions.

Manchester Mayor Kenneth Palmer said the ordinance, which was up for a final reading Monday night, was set aside for revisions and a workshop meeting set for May 9 to discuss it.

The proposed ordinance would have banned the use of drones and model aircraft with just a handful of exceptions. It was proposed in early March by Councilman Craig Wallis, who expressed concerns about the safety of the aircraft after he said he saw a drone fall on the heads of people at the Polar Plunge in Seaside Heights, according to the Manchester Times.

Drone aircraft have been growing in popularity over the last year, as the cost of the aircraft has fallen significantly. They have been put into use not only by private citizens but commercially, with the aircraft often equipped with cameras are used to obtain photos or videos from an overhead vantage point that would otherwise be inaccessible.

A few companies at the Jersey Shore have begun offering drone footage for commercial purposes, whether to provide an overview of a home for a real estate listing, or for marketing campaigns.

But the growing popularity has led to a few bans. Long Beach Township, Waretown and Beachwood all have enacted bans on the use of drones in their towns, and the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association -- the governing body of high school sports -- has banned the use of drones at New Jersey high school sports events.

Earlier this week the state Department of Environmental Protection issued a warning to drone users to keep them away from wildfires and forest fires because the drones interfere with efforts to fight the fires.

Drone aircraft already are governed by the Federal Aviation Administration, which requires users to register their drones with the FAA before flying them. Drones also are required to stay under 400 feet and to stay away from other aircraft, power stations, prisons, government facilities and other sensitive infrastructure. They also must stay five miles away from any airport under FAA rules.

The rules also specify that drones cannot be flown over "unprotected persons or moving vehicles, and remain at least 25 feet away from individuals and vulnerable property," or used to "conduct surveillance or photograph persons in areas where there is an expectation of privacy without the individual’s permission (see AMA’s privacy policy)."

The proposed Manchester ordinance would have banned the flying of drones under 400 feet within the township, with exceptions for drones being used by law enforcement or emergency services or drones being used by federal, state, county or municipal agencies. It also included an execption for drones used during daylight for business purposes on private property where the property owner had given consent -- for example, when a real estate agent was using one to get different angles on a property for a real estate listing.

Manchester's proposed ordinance also would have significantly curtailed the use of model airplanes -- those being flown simply for pleasure, not for data collection, with flights being allowed over private property with the property owner's consent.

(A drone aircraft flies at sunset. By Dave Shevett, via Flickr, under Creative Commons license.)