Local Ordinance Was Passed In 2015

Two years ago, in what was kind of the dinosaur era of drone regulations, the town of Orchard Park, NY passed a local ordinance that applied largely to the area around New Era Field, the home of the NFL's Buffalo Bills and a major event venue in the region.

The law restricted drones in the vicinity of the stadium six hours before and six hours after any event held at the venue. A later federal regulation put in place in 2016 established TFRs over any stadium where a game was being played within three miles of the stadium from an hour before the game until an hour after the game.

At least one person has been cited under the local ordinance. Jone Danno flew his drone during a U2 concert held at New Era Field, and was fined by the town of Orchard Park.

Now, television station WGRZ reports that the town voted Wednesday night to begin the process of rescinding the local ordinance after it was informed that only the FAA has jurisdiction over navigable airspace.

Councilman Michael Sherry said that the council has looked at the applicable laws and found that its local ordinance is "redundant". Town Attorney John Bailey said that the town isn't re-writing the ordinance to comply with the FAA's rules, "we're just rescinding an ordinance that appears to be at odds with their regulations," he said.

It's not known if the charges against Danno will be dropped. That is up to the town prosecutor.

While this ordinance is being stricken from the books, Councilman Sherry said that, in his view, the FAA's rules are still too lax.

(Image from file)

FMI: Original Report