That was a question we recently asked ourselves, and we had to do some digging!
First, let’s get you some backstory…
We heard about a minor event at the Damboree Parade regarding a drone airplane that had been launched along the parade route. That wasn’t allowed, per the Boulder City ordinance on aircraft in general, and Boulder City’s finest were on hand to take control – so all was well. ☺
But for drone enthusiasts who wished to use them legally within the City, we wanted to see what the rules actually were.
Not so easy….
So we got in touch with Jonathan Daniels at Praxis Aerospace Concepts. And from that conversation we’ve got a short ‘cliff notes’ version of what the local city and state rules are about drone usage.
Here are the key points for drone usage within the City:
- Drones must be 50-100 feet away from people
- They must be used in a safe and responsible manner
- They cannot be close to power lines (Eek!)
- They cannot be flown within 5 miles of the airport
- They cannot fly over other people or property
- They cannot be flown higher than 400 ft.
Now, commercial use and some public usage is allowed with permits.
An example of that is the pic above from this year’s Spring Jamboree event. It was shot from a drone, properly permitted for the event via the Chamber of Commerce. Cool stuff, right?!? (Thank you Jill Lagan for sharing that photo with us!)
Permits can be obtained by contacting our local Parks and Rec office at 702-293-9256. Fees do apply. All permits are run through Praxis Aerospace Concepts for completion and monitoring. (That’s where our good friend Jon came in above! ☺)
For those who are more curious, or want to read all the specific legal mumbo-jumbo, you can contact them directly on their web site here.
Fly Safely everyone!
