Westlake Village Municipal Code Ch. 4.12 Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems

This Chapter shall be known and may be cited as the Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems Ordinance.

(Ord. No. 302-23, § 2, 5-24-2023)

The purpose of this Chapter is to regulate small unmanned aircraft systems (drones) to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the public. This Chapter supplements, and shall be interpreted so as not to conflict with, federal and state laws applicable to small unmanned aircraft systems.

(Ord. No. 302-23, § 2, 5-24-2023)

This Chapter applies to civil small unmanned aircraft systems and to recreational small unmanned aircraft systems as such devices are classified by federal law.

(Ord. No. 302-23, § 2, 5-24-2023)

For the purposes of this Chapter, unless it is plainly evident from the context that a different meaning is intended, the following definitions shall apply. Whenever a reference is made to a law other than this Code, the reference applies to the then-current version of such law.

A. "Emergency" shall include a condition or situation involving injury to persons, damage to property, or peril to the safety of persons or property, which results from a fire, an explosion, an airplane crash, flooding, windstorm damage, a railroad accident, a traffic accident, a powerplant accident, a toxic chemical or biological spill, or any other human-caused event.

B. "Small unmanned aircraft" means an unmanned aircraft weighing less than fifty-five (55) pounds on takeoff, including everything that is on board or otherwise attached to the aircraft.

C. "UAS" shall mean a small unmanned aircraft and associated elements (including any communication links and components that control the aircraft) that are required for the safe and efficient operation of the aircraft in the national airspace system. "UAS" includes both: (i) a UAS operated in accordance with 14 C.F.R. Part 107 for any purpose other than a strictly recreational purpose, including commercial purposes or in the furtherance of, or incidental to, any business or media service or agency; and (ii) a UAS operated in accordance with 49 U.S.C. Section 44809 strictly for recreational purposes.

D. "Unmanned aircraft" means an aircraft operated without the possibility of direct human intervention from within or on the aircraft.

(Ord. No. 302-23, § 2, 5-24-2023)

A. No person shall takeoff or land a UAS in any City park, in a parking lot designated for a City park, or from a sidewalk adjacent to a City park.

B. No person shall attach to a UAS, operate a UAS with, or discharge from a UAS any of the following items: a firearm; ammunition; an incendiary device; an explosive; a flamethrower; fireworks; a water bomb; or any other item capable of causing bodily injury, death, or property damage.

C. No person shall takeoff, land, or operate a UAS within a one thousand (1,000) foot horizontal distance of any emergency vehicle that is operating with lights or sirens.

D. No person shall takeoff, land, or operate a UAS within a one thousand (1,000) foot horizontal distance of the scene of an emergency where law enforcement officers, firefighters, emergency personnel, or military personnel are responding to an emergency.

E. No person shall operate a UAS for the purpose of conducting surveillance unless expressly permitted by law or court order.

F. No person shall operate a UAS in a manner that is intended to or actually serves to frighten, harass, injure, intimidate, or threaten an individual of ordinary sensibilities, whether that individual is located on public or private property. Without limitation, this prohibition applies to the use of a UAS to follow, live-stream, photograph, or record an individual who has not consented to such activity.

G. No person shall operate a UAS to capture, record, or transmit any visual image or audio recording of an individual or private property under circumstances in which that individual or the property owner has a reasonable expectation of privacy. Without limitation, this prohibition applies to the use of a UAS to live-stream, photograph, or record inside the premises or curtilage of a private residence, office, hotel room or inside an enclosed yard or exterior deck.

H. No person shall operate a UAS less than three hundred (300) feet above ground level within the airspace overlaying an event conducted or sponsored by the City.

I. No person shall operate a UAS over the airspace of a fireworks discharge site for a City-sponsored fireworks show during the preparation and performance of such show, or within the airspace of an on-going City-sponsored fireworks show.

(Ord. No. 302-23, § 2, 5-24-2023)

A. Any person who causes injury to another person while operating a UAS shall provide the following information to the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department, Lost Hills Station within twenty-four (24) hours of the incident:

1. The location of the incident.

2. The UAS operator's name and current residential address.

B. Any person who causes damage to the property of another person while operating a UAS shall immediately provide the owner or person in charge of the damaged property with the UAS operator's name and current residential address and a statement of the circumstances of the incident resulting in the property damage. If the owner or person in charge of the damaged property cannot reasonably be ascertained or located, then the UAS operator shall both: (i) immediately provide such information in a writing securely left in a conspicuous place on the damaged property; and (ii) provide such information to the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department, Lost Hills Station, within twenty-four (24) hours of the incident.

C. UAS operators shall provide their remote pilot certificate with a UAS rating and their identification containing the information listed at 14 C.F.R Section 107.67(b)(1) through (3) for inspection upon request from any law enforcement officer.

(Ord. No. 302-23, § 2, 5-24-2023)

This Chapter shall not apply to:

A. A UAS operated by a public agency, law enforcement agency, or public safety entity.

B. A UAS operated as a public aircraft operation (as that term is defined in 49 U.S.C. Section 40102(a)(41)) with a certificate of authorization issued by the Federal Aviation Administration.

(Ord. No. 302-23, § 2, 5-24-2023)