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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2019
OPINION
editor@dailyastorian.com
KARI BORGEN
Publisher
Founded in 1873
JIM VAN NOSTRAND
Editor
JEREMY FELDMAN
Circulation Manager
JOHN D. BRUIJN
Production Manager
CARL EARL
Systems Manager
SOUTHERN EXPOSURE
Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
Combing the beach for objects is a popular pastime at the Cove in Seaside, as seen in this drone photo.
Citizens concerned about drone encounters
S
easide’s surfers are upset about
camera and drone operators at the
Cove.
Resident Joyce Hunt came to the City
Council in early December with a con-
cern about drone encounters. Drones fl y
close overhead, she said, at the wind-
shield level of cars and frightening
families.
She asked for guidance on the issue.
“I used to be a pilot,” Hunt said. “I know
that there are rules. I feel it’s an issue I
don’t know anything about.”
When she called police dispatch to
complain about a low-fl ying drone, they
“basically said it’s legal to fl y that.”
After calls to the Federal Aviation
Agency, local police and Oregon State
Parks — which patrols the beaches
— “it sounds like there are no straight
answers.”
The FAA “doesn’t want to get into
real local, unless you’re within fi ve
miles of an airport,” she
said. “Just curious where
I go, who I talk to if I
have an obnoxious drone
operator.”
City Councilor Seth
Morrisey of Morrisey
R.J.
Productions, based in
MARX
Seaside, is an experi-
enced drone operator.
“It’s like the Wild West out there,” Mor-
risey replied to Hunt’s comments. “And
everything you said was true.”
Enforcement?
The Oregon State Parks Department
enforces a small set of recreation- and
natural resource-related rules on the
ocean shore, media coordinator Chris
Havel said in January.
“There are no state recreation rules
against drones on the ocean shore,”
Havel said. “In fact, state agencies need
permission from the Legislature to pass
drone rules.”
He said park staff “do regularly talk
to people about the need for mutual
respect; that normally doesn’t involve
citing people for violating rules.”
Katie Gauthier, the legislative and
policy coordinator for state parks, told
the Astorian last summer that drones
are generally legal in most state parks,
including beaches, except in areas where
fl ights could endanger wildlife or pose
risks to people or property.
After Seaside’s December meeting,
Police Chief Dave Ham said complaints
of drone operators are “infrequent”
during the offseason, “maybe once a
month.”
“During the busier season we would
see a few more, usually related to the
beach area,” Ham said.
The complaints usually concern an
invasion of privacy.
“Although as you heard the other
FROM SEASIDE’S DRONE
FIGHT AUTHORIZATION
Register your aircraft at www.faa.gov/
uas/registration.
When fl ying a drone within 5 miles of the
Seaside Municipal Airport, contact 503-
738-5112.
Provide information on where you will be
operating, what altitudes, and what type
of fl ying activity you will be doing.
Never fl y over groups of people.
Never fl y over the Promenade, homes,
hotels, or beach events.
Never fl y near emergency response
eff orts.
Never fl y under the infl uence.
Be aware of airspace requirements.
“You are offi cially a pilot, safety is in your
hands.”
Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
The site of the new high school in Seaside can be seen in this October 2018 drone photo.
night, using it in close proximity to
people can be harassing and annoy-
ing,” Ham added. “Generally speak-
ing, harassing use of a drone could be
violating the city disorderly conduct
ordinance.”
Dispatchers usually tell those fi ling
complaints that the city does not have
specifi c ordinances prohibiting the use,
but they are aware of the local airport
and permits that can be obtained via the
public works director.
“Usually our offi cers will respond to
the area of the complaint,” Ham said.
“Unfortunately the operator is often
times not located due to being able to
remote control the drone from a sub-
stantial distance away from where it is
operating.”
An airport issue
Randall Henderson, chairman of Sea-
side’s Airport Advisory Committee, said
that drones are not “strictly speaking an
airport issue.”
But the committee has concerns that
drones keep out of the fl ight path of low-
er-altitude fl ights offshore where it’s
legal to do so. “I would hope that drone
operators are aware of that and keeping
their drones in sight at all times as per
the regulations.”
The committee serves in an advisory
capacity, he added, and not a rule-mak-
ing body. It’s “pretty easy” to operate a
drone without anyone knowing about it.
Drone operators fl ying within fi ve
miles of the Seaside Airport are asked
to call an airport sponsor or manager
— that is, the owner of the airport or its
manager. In that case, it would be the
city of Seaside, which has designated a
management role to Public Works Direc-
tor Dale McDowell.
R.J. Marx/The Daily Astorian
Trails left by planes over Saddle Mountain.
Operators are asked to notify
McDowell, who says he can respond
24/7. They receive a fact sheet from the
city and a list of safety guidelines. Drone
information is available on the city’s
website under the heading “municipal
airport.”
While there have yet to be any safety
incidents, pilots and others are worried
a drone could hit a plane. Federal avia-
tion rules are not specifi c enough, Hen-
derson said, and should focus on regulat-
ing drone use near the airport’s departure
and approach path.
Instead, the FAA has picked a “one
size fi ts all” approach. That could
be refi ned as drones become more
prevalent.
For now, Henderson said the commit-
tee is taking a “wait-and-see attitude. …
You don’t want to solve problems that
don’t necessarily exist.”
What about the plight of the surfers?
“We’re concerned with safety of air-
craft and if that rears its head in some
way, we’ll take it from there,” Hender-
son said.
R.J. Marx is editor of the Seaside Sig-
nal and Cannon Beach Gazette, and cov-
ers South County for The Daily Astorian.