On March 28, the Waconia Patriot published official notice of St. Bonifacius' Ordinance Number 115, which bans most uses of drones in the 1.07 square miles within the limits of the city of 2283 on the extreme western edge of Hennepin County.
The council approved the ordinance in a 4-1 vote on March 20. The purpose of the measure:
It is the purpose of this Section to provide the residents of the City protection from invasions of privacy due to the rapid implementation of drone technology being put into use by individuals, entities, and law enforcement agencies. Use of unmanned aerial vehicles also pose an unreasonable public safety concern to other aircraft or objects in the air, and to City residents and their property on the ground in the event of drone malfunction, loss of control, or other inability to sustain flight as intended.
The ordinance allows landowners to fly drones without surveillance capacities over their own property. Law enforcement must obtain warrants to use drones, although they can use them in situations when "immediate danger of death or serious injury to any person" would predicate the use of a surveillance drone.
ECM News columnist Don Heinzman writes in St. Bonifacius council says no to drones over its skies:
Even as the St. Bonifacius City Council was developing its ordinance, Republican U.S. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky conducted a 13-hour filibuster forcing the government to state its policy on use of drones.
The drone technology boggles the mind. Some say that these unmanned “snoops” equipped with sensors can tell how many people are in a structure. It’s even possible that by involving other technologies, the drone could eavesdrop on a conversation.
Like the St. Bonifacius City Council, the American Civil Liberties Union is also concerned about the lack of safeguards while using this “big brother in the sky.” The St. Bonifacius City Council said neither the federal government nor the State of Minnesota have provided reasonable legal restrictions on the use of drones. That’s why St. Bonifacius leaders believe taking the time and spending the money on its anti-drone ordinance is worth it, even if it’s coming from one of the metropolitan area’s smallest communities.
MPR's statewide blog has more in Minnesota city restricts drone use.
Photo: This Global Hawk is so not allowed in St. Boni. An RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned aircraft like the one shown is currently flying non-military mapping missions over South, Central America and the Caribbean at the request of partner nations in the region. U.S. Air Force photo by Bobbi Zapka. via Wikicommons.
If you appreciate reading posts on Bluestem Prairie, consider making a donation via paypal:
Comments