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Moratorium on drones given 4-1 council nod

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A moratorium on the flying of drones over about 75 percent of the city was approved Tuesday night on a 4-1 vote of the city council.

The “emergency” measure, believed to be the first of its kind in the nation, will be in effect for up to 45 days and is intended to give the city the authority to ground drones and cite offenders in the event of a declared emergency such as an approaching wildfire. While there is no “trigger” language in the interim ordinance, Mayor Steve Vaus and his council colleagues stressed that the moratorium would not be enforced unless there were signs of an impending emergency.

Councilman John Mullin voted against the adoption, saying he wasn’t comfortable proceeding with the ordinance in its proposed form.

Vaus called for the drafting of the ordinance at the Aug. 18 council meeting, saying Poway needed to avoid a situation where camera-equipped, remote-controlled drones were flying in air space being used by water-dropping helicopters and airplanes fighting wildfires. Drone operators often are looking to record fire footage for posting on social media sites, the mayor said at the time.

City Attorney Morgan Foley was charged with the task of drafting the ordinance in two week’s time.

On Tuesday, Foley said he was able to accomplish some, but not all of the task. The wording presented to the council treats the launching and landing of drones as a land use matter because federal regulations clearly leave the responsibility of controlling airspace to the Federal Aviation Administration, Foley said. How best to describe under what conditions the moratorium would be imposed needs further research, he said, and some revised wording should be ready within 45 days.

The approved ordinance impacts properties within the city deemed to be most susceptible to wildfires; those in the following zones: Open Space-Recreational, Open Space-Resource Management, Planned Community and Rural Residential. Those zones cover approximately 75 percent of the city, according to a map that accompanied the proposed ordinance.

Three members of the pubic spoke on the matter, all against the moratorium.

“It precludes me from operating my toy helicopter in my driveway,” said Steve Sarviel.

Vaus said that would not be the case, that the city wasn’t interested in citing what he called “driveway drones.” He spoke at length about his faith in city employees displaying discretion when enforcing the 45-day ordinance. Nothing will be done, he said, unless there is an declared emergency.

“This won’t do any harm,” Councilman Dave Grosch agreed.

Councilman Jim Cunningham, an attorney, had said two weeks ago he had some concerns about the drone ordinance being challenged in court since it would be the first one on the books. On Tuesday night he praised Foley’s efforts and said he was satisfied with the new law.

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