Memo
TO: Mayor Collins and Town Council Members
FROM: Kevin Burke, Town Manager
Andrew M. Miller, Town Attorney
DATE: October 1, 2015
DEPARTMENT: Town Attorney
Staff Contact
Andrew M. Miller, Town Attorney, 480-348-3691
End
AGENDA TITLE:
Title
Drone Ordinance for Consideration and Comment
Body
Council Goals
SUMMARY STATEMENT:
Staff would like Council to review and provide comments on the attached draft drone ordinance. After some citizen complaints, and at the request of the Mayor, staff drafted an ordinance to address the use of unmanned aerial vehicles ("UAVs"), also known as drones. This ordinance would be added as Article 10-12 to the Town Code. A first review of an initial draft ordinance occurred at the Council's May 28, 2015 work study meeting with comments received by staff from the Council Members and with some residents and UAV users asking to meet with the staff to provide their input. Staff did meet with some of these UAV users in the past few months, with some of their input leading to the changes to the draft ordinance, as well as from local legal experts in the UAV community.
Although the Federal Aviation Administration is still in the process of promulgating regulations concerning UAVs, staff's previous research has shown that although only a few other municipalities have adopted UAV regulations to address issues of privacy and safety many more are interested in adopting regulations. It is staff's hope that the regulations in the attached ordinance will be seen as supplementing some of the regulations that will eventually be promulgated by the FAA. Although the FAA has a primary concern with avoiding conflicts between UAVs and other forms of regulated flight, the Town's concerns are centered more on local safety and privacy concerns.
The draft ordinance attempts to balance the competing interests of residents who are concerned about the potential safety and privacy issues connected with...
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