Winter Park awaits state-level bill regulating drones

Winter Park residents will have to wait a little longer before they see anything done about invasive drones in the city.
City commissioners opted on April 10 to table a proposed drone ordinance because of a bill currently making its way down the pipeline at the state level.
“It’s likely there will be a Senate and House bill that actually passes,” City Attorney Kurt Ardaman said.
The drone bill (Senate Bill 832) recently passed through two senate committees last month and is planned to go before a house committee soon.
But Monday’s meeting also brought up a new question: Can the ordinance protect animals from being disturbed?
“I was at MLK Park not too long ago, and I saw somebody flying around one of those speedy drones,” Mayor Steve Leary said. “It was like a dragonfly. It had all the birds up in arms.”
A city ordinance regarding drones could be tailored to fix that, Ardaman said.
“I think we can add something with respect to fauna or wildlife that drones can not be used to harass or approach domestic and/or wild animals,” he said.
Winter Park began considering a drone ordinance last May, when City Commissioner Greg Seidel’s wife was harassed by a drone while paddle-boarding on Lake Virginia.
She wrote to the City Commission that she was continuously approached by the drone and that it wasn’t until she threw a handful of seaweed at the device that it left her alone.
But Winter Park hasn’t been the only city in Central Florida looking at regulating drones. Orlando passed its own ordinance in January. That ordinance declares it unlawful to operate a drone while under the influence of alcohol, pilot a drone within 500 feet of a venue or public event, or to operate a drone with the intent to harass or secretly observe someone.
Ardaman said the Winter Park ordinance would take a more “extensive” approach.
“We’re going to be as aggressive as a city can be,” Ardaman told commissioners at the Feb. 27 meeting.
“People feel like they’re being spied on,” Winter Park City Manager Randy Knight said. “The ordinance will deal with that the best it can.”
The FAA requires all drones to be registered.