Good thing I asked.

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Oct 8, 2019
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Wallingford, CT. USA
I’ve been trying to fly my P4Ps around areas close to my home, to try and build up a portfolio of my capabilities. I have a beautiful reservoir near my house. The law states if its owned by the DEEP you must get special permission in CT. But I believed it was not, and was actually controlled by my towns water division. I called DEEP to make sure (and surprise surprise, they did not call back.) The law in CT actually states “ No municipality shall enact or enforce an ordinance or resolution that regulates the ownership, possession, purchase, sale, use, transportation or operation of any commercial unmanned aircraft or otherwise regulate the ownership, possession, purchase, sale, use, transportation or operation of such aircraft, except as otherwise authorized by state and federal law, and to the extent they do not conflict with policies and procedures adopted by the Connecticut Airport Authority”. So if you read that, you’re golden, right? Wrong! After I called my town and asked if it was owned by them, and the reason for my call, I was called back by an agent of the Town water municipality. He said it WAS NOT controlled by the DEEP, but they do not want me flying my drone over the water. I can outskirt it, but I was not allowed to bring the drone over the water. I hung up the phone believing this guy just doesn’t know the law, and was just a talking head, and started to pack my stuff, ready to cite the law to anyone that questioned me. I tiny voice inside me said “read the law again”, so for once I listened. If you don’t follow the “sub sets”, and “separated sections”, and “cousin twice removed conversation at thanksgiving dinner afterthought”, you could get screwed. After following the “Game of Clue path”, I found this part. “ Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, any municipality that is also a water company, as defined in section 25-32a of the general statutes, may enact and enforce ordinances or resolutions that regulate or prohibit the use or operation of private and commercial unmanned aircraft over such municipality's public water supply and Class I or Class II land, as described in section 25-37c of the general statutes, provided such ordinances or resolutions do not conflict with federal law or policies and procedures adopted by the Connecticut Airport Authority.”. Boom! There it is. Dropped in your lap, and in black and white State of Connecticut ink”. If I just went, I would have broken the law, most likely been fined and probably had my 107 suspended. Moral of the story? Follow the **** impossible road map they lay in front of you and label as a law. Make sure it says what you believe it does. It may save you a lot of headaches. Peace out, Fliers!
 
Yes I been asking a lot of questions around to regards to council laws and rules and airports even regarding my rc cars cause they 1/5 scale and like drones cant just drive them anywhere,,,its good to ask and find out these things but in doing so I'm well know now and I'll probably get a visit if some other idiot mucks up,,me flight data time and dates has saved me couple times in past so I'm sure I'll need them again soon since there is another phantom buzzing around
 
I would still question their authority, as you said they can make rules as long as it does not go against state or federal laws, I am not an authority by any means but we just had a case in Michigan where a city was saying that you could not fly over local parks, they were taken to court and found that they had no authority to regulate these activities. Please do not take my word for it but you may want to actually talk to someone from the FAA if you really want to fly there.
 
I’ve been trying to fly my P4Ps around areas close to my home, to try and build up a portfolio of my capabilities. I have a beautiful reservoir near my house. The law states if its owned by the DEEP you must get special permission in CT. But I believed it was not, and was actually controlled by my towns water division. I called DEEP to make sure (and surprise surprise, they did not call back.) The law in CT actually states “ No municipality shall enact or enforce an ordinance or resolution that regulates the ownership, possession, purchase, sale, use, transportation or operation of any commercial unmanned aircraft or otherwise regulate the ownership, possession, purchase, sale, use, transportation or operation of such aircraft, except as otherwise authorized by state and federal law, and to the extent they do not conflict with policies and procedures adopted by the Connecticut Airport Authority”. So if you read that, you’re golden, right? Wrong! After I called my town and asked if it was owned by them, and the reason for my call, I was called back by an agent of the Town water municipality. He said it WAS NOT controlled by the DEEP, but they do not want me flying my drone over the water. I can outskirt it, but I was not allowed to bring the drone over the water. I hung up the phone believing this guy just doesn’t know the law, and was just a talking head, and started to pack my stuff, ready to cite the law to anyone that questioned me. I tiny voice inside me said “read the law again”, so for once I listened. If you don’t follow the “sub sets”, and “separated sections”, and “cousin twice removed conversation at thanksgiving dinner afterthought”, you could get screwed. After following the “Game of Clue path”, I found this part. “ Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, any municipality that is also a water company, as defined in section 25-32a of the general statutes, may enact and enforce ordinances or resolutions that regulate or prohibit the use or operation of private and commercial unmanned aircraft over such municipality's public water supply and Class I or Class II land, as described in section 25-37c of the general statutes, provided such ordinances or resolutions do not conflict with federal law or policies and procedures adopted by the Connecticut Airport Authority.”. Boom! There it is. Dropped in your lap, and in black and white State of Connecticut ink”. If I just went, I would have broken the law, most likely been fined and probably had my 107 suspended. Moral of the story? Follow the **** impossible road map they lay in front of you and label as a law. Make sure it says what you believe it does. It may save you a lot of headaches. Peace out, Fliers!
Sounds like a lot of mumbo jumbo to me. I use these laws, rules and agreement forms whenever I have a difficult time falling asleep. I usually get about 3 or 4 lines down and I'm out like a light. Now, when I want to fly my P4P over a reservoir, I have to pass the BAR exam and become an attorney. If I flew an ultralight aircraft over the same reservoir, I would need no license and follow no rules. Strange, ain't it?
 
I would still question their authority, as you said they can make rules as long as it does not go against state or federal laws, I am not an authority by any means but we just had a case in Michigan where a city was saying that you could not fly over local parks, they were taken to court and found that they had no authority to regulate these activities. Please do not take my word for it but you may want to actually talk to someone from the FAA if you really want to fly there.
I did quite a bit of research before i took anything as gospel. It is specifically in the (At least) Connecticut law, that a municipality that is a water company does have the right to restrict.
 
I’ll also add that, in the off-chance that a local resident or law enforcement offer isn’t familiar with the law (an often occurrence), it can be helpful to have a printed copy of the relevant laws and ordinances with you when flying in areas that may not be obviously appropriate.
 
I’ve been trying to fly my P4Ps around areas close to my home, to try and build up a portfolio of my capabilities. I have a beautiful reservoir near my house. The law states if its owned by the DEEP you must get special permission in CT. But I believed it was not, and was actually controlled by my towns water division. I called DEEP to make sure (and surprise surprise, they did not call back.) The law in CT actually states “ No municipality shall enact or enforce an ordinance or resolution that regulates the ownership, possession, purchase, sale, use, transportation or operation of any commercial unmanned aircraft or otherwise regulate the ownership, possession, purchase, sale, use, transportation or operation of such aircraft, except as otherwise authorized by state and federal law, and to the extent they do not conflict with policies and procedures adopted by the Connecticut Airport Authority”. So if you read that, you’re golden, right? Wrong! After I called my town and asked if it was owned by them, and the reason for my call, I was called back by an agent of the Town water municipality. He said it WAS NOT controlled by the DEEP, but they do not want me flying my drone over the water. I can outskirt it, but I was not allowed to bring the drone over the water. I hung up the phone believing this guy just doesn’t know the law, and was just a talking head, and started to pack my stuff, ready to cite the law to anyone that questioned me. I tiny voice inside me said “read the law again”, so for once I listened. If you don’t follow the “sub sets”, and “separated sections”, and “cousin twice removed conversation at thanksgiving dinner afterthought”, you could get screwed. After following the “Game of Clue path”, I found this part. “ Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, any municipality that is also a water company, as defined in section 25-32a of the general statutes, may enact and enforce ordinances or resolutions that regulate or prohibit the use or operation of private and commercial unmanned aircraft over such municipality's public water supply and Class I or Class II land, as described in section 25-37c of the general statutes, provided such ordinances or resolutions do not conflict with federal law or policies and procedures adopted by the Connecticut Airport Authority.”. Boom! There it is. Dropped in your lap, and in black and white State of Connecticut ink”. If I just went, I would have broken the law, most likely been fined and probably had my 107 suspended. Moral of the story? Follow the **** impossible road map they lay in front of you and label as a law. Make sure it says what you believe it does. It may save you a lot of headaches. Peace out, Fliers!

In the category of "best to ask forgiveness than get permission..."

I find if I ask ANYBODY if it's "okay to fly here?," I have been met with a resounding "NO," right down to Gus the security guard who wouldn't know an FAA rule if it bit him on the knees. I stopped asking "permission to fly" years ago. It's not uncommon for the left hand to "forbid me from flying" after the right hand has HIRED me to do so!! Turns out, hiring entities don't always pass a memo down to entry-level employees.

Just my 2 cents...

D
 

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