Toms River Plans To Ban Drones

A new ordinance introduced by the Toms River Township Council would ban drones in any airspace below 400 feet. Violators would  faces fines of up to $2,000 and up to 90 days in jail.

The council decided to address the issue after receiving complaints from people that drones were hovering over their property. Residents, especially in the North Dover area of Toms River, accuse real estate agents of using the drones to get information about homes and properties.

Of course there are exceptions to this rule:

drones can be flown by law enforcement agencies and emergency services; at athletic events held at private and public schools or on township-owned property; and during daylight hours on private residential or commercial property, as long as the property owner consents to the use of unmanned aircraft over their land.

The ordinance also allows drones to be used for commercial, business, educational, scientific, research and environmental purposes, in accordance with FAA regulations.

If you want to make your voice heard, a public hearing has been scheduled on April 25th at 6pm at Toms River Town Hall.

One of my coworkers is a drone enthusiast, and he's brought it along to various station events like the Billboard Radiothon. Luckily I believe that we would fall under the "commercial purpose" when it comes to things like that.

I understand that it would be creepy to have a drone hovering around your backyard, but I still feel like this is going after the wrong group. I'm not worried about real estate agents looking at my property, I'm worried about some guy that is trying to spy on my family or look in my windows. Fining a real estate agent isn't going to prevent the perv who spies on sunbathing girls from doing what he wants and keeping the footage private.

Keep in mind I'm not accusing my coworker of spying on people, he's a stand-up dude.

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