Drones

Even the people responsible for air traffic control has issues with Drones. What makes a HOA more powerful?

It sounds like some kid flying his drone around. My co-worker had a micro-one he flew in our office. Don't see anything bad about it. They fly them all the time with our local news whenever there is a catastrophe or road construction. We have a company that video tapes various things like this for even selling homes.

You may be a bit paranoid if you think a neighbor is spying on you via a drone. Kind of can hear them things coming. Plus if it gets in your space take a broom and knock it down. Their loss. Punishment enough to have lost it.

Here is what NOLO has to say:

https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/what-do-when-your-neighbor-has-drone.html

I agree that an outright ban would be extreme. Cases where I see a use of a drone necessary, realtors that want to showcase their listing, and contractors working for the association or individual property owner to inspect as assess the home.

We amended our Rules & Regulations last year to include the following section. Eventually most of this will be added to our CC&Rs.

12. Drones

12.1 For the purposes of this section, the definition of “Drone” shall be the same as that found in Section 934.50(2)(a), Florida Statutes (2018). With regard to drone use, the Association will at all times comply with Section 934.50, Florida Statutes (2018), also known as the “Freedom from Unwarranted Surveillance Act”.

12.2 No one may launch, land or recover a drone from anywhere on the common property for recreational or hobby purposes.

12.3 No one may direct a commercial delivery drone to land on Common property.

12.4 Properly licensed operation of drones used lawfully by outside parties for commercial purposes (e.g. survey, inspection, insurance, etc.), to the extent authorized in writing by the Board of Directors or its designee in connection with the operation and management of the community by the Association may be operated within the community.

12.5 Properly licensed operation of drones used lawfully by real estate professionals or their employees/subcontractors assisting an owner with the sale of his/her home may be operated within the community provided that a copy of the drone operator’s “remote pilot airman certificate with a UAS rating”, as issued by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), is submitted to the Secretary in advance along with proof of liability insurance on the part of the operator.

12.6 Approved commercial use of drones shall comply with all provisions of the FAA’s “Part 107 Operating Rules”. Operators should be aware that all of XYZ HOA is within the Class D airspace surrounding the ABC Regional Airport.

Our HOA resembles a condominium in many ways. One of them is the homes are owned individually in fee simple and the lots were planned so that the individual lot boundaries conform to the slabs underneath the homes. So everything outside the walls of a home is common property. Even the driveways are common property. So yes, the idea was to restrict deliveries from Amazon and whoever else will be doing delivery-by-drone. There's at least one large grocery store chain that has started to investigate doing deliveries this way. We have one large retention pond that serves to collect overflow from the main ponds when there's a lot of rain. It would be perfect as a drone landing area, except when it's full of water

The idea is to head off any problems before they come up. What if an Amazon (don't mean to single them out) drone drops a package in that area and an hour later there's a torrential rain before the owner gets home and goes to collect his package? What if someone's dog interacts with a flying drone dropping down to deliver a package? We'd rather not get into all that, so we just say "No".

All of this drone stuff is constantly changing and still very new so we'll keep an eye on the changing regulatory environment and we could end up changing these rules if necessary.

We've had 2 incidents over the last few years. One was a drone with a camera came over the back fence near the clubhouse and seemed to be observing several women who were using the pool. Nobody saw where it came from, exactly, but it likely came from an adjoining subdivision. Can't shoot 'em down, so there wasn't much we could do about it. The local police are useless with this stuff and the FAA can't/won't do anything without some identifying information.

The other incident was a homeowner had a few guests one weekend last year and a teenage guest had a drone that he was flying around the neighborhood. Most people thought it was cool and interesting until it crashed into a parked vehicle and scratched up the paint. Every homeowner we spoke to when drafting those rules was in favor of some sort of restrictions.

You can't do anything if a drone comes flying over your property from outside the subdivision, but you can restrict the launching and recovery from inside the community, and that's what we did.

Thank You Geno The template is wonderful starting point.

Geno,
First, thank you for all of your insights. Most helpful. As a Part 107 pilot myself, I have to say I'm glad you're not in my neck of the woods.

I actually use my drone in the community to assist with mapping specific areas as well as doing surveys. I always fly by part 107 rules, so I stay over the streets or areas that do not contain risks should I experience a failure. I also help the golf course by doing surveys and mappings. I have a release by the course, I always fly with insurance, and I always check in before missions. Unfortunately, you can't rely on operators to do that, especially if they are flying recreationally, so I can understand the position.

With respect to the police being helpless, that may be a local thing. Our area happens to have a drone store who supplies many of the departments with whatever they need. So in the event of a drone "problem", they can pull out one of their own and follow it home. There are also other methods to terminate problem flights, but I'm not aware if any of our departments have gone that far yet.

Take care.