Pacific Grove City Council passes an urgency ordinance banning recreational drones.

Flying recreational drones in Pacific Grove is officially banned, after the P.G. City Council passed an urgency ordinance on Wednesday, Feb. 4. The vote was 6-0, with Mayor Nick Smith absent.

"No person shall launch, land or operate Recreational UAS (Unmanned Aircraft Systems) anywhere in the city except when such operation is expressly authorized by federal and/or state law," the ordinance states. Violations could result in impounding of a drone, as well as fines and penalties. Launching or landing a drone anywhere requires a written permit.

That was before an amendment was agreed to, excluding one spot in the city.

The vote did not come without some bargaining after Councilmember Chaps Poduri demanded the future American Tin Cannery luxury hotel project be specifically excluded from the ordinance. 

Poduri told the council that he did not want any more potential conditions placed on the project, located on the Pacific Grove/Monterey border, just around the corner from the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and not far from the harbor seal pupping beach near Hopkins Marine Station.

He held his ground, refusing to vote for the ordinance as is, and although the other councilmembers argued that it concerned recreational drones only, not commercial, Poduri refused to budge. 

Because an urgency ordinance requires six of seven members to vote in favor to pass, all six members present that night had to vote "yes." The other five begrudgingly acquiesced to Poduri's demand after failing to reach a compromise. They worried that errant drones could interrupt the pupping season which just started or the black oystercatchers' nesting season if they didn't take immediate action.

Councilmember Lori McDonnell said just recently a black oystercatcher lost its clutch of eggs after a drone came near. Seeing the drone as a predator, the bird chased it, leaving the nest unattended and ripe for actual predators to swoop in.

The 222-unit hotel was originally approved by the council in January 2022. A strong contingent of residents argued against the hotel plans and another group of community and business leaders lobbied in favor of rehabilitating what was then a failing shopping outlet mall and bring in needed sales and hotel tax revenues to the city.

Residents and two members of the California Coastal Commission filed appeals to the Commission. Two years later the commission approved the project in April 2024, with additional conditions above those already imposed by the city. Part of the conditions are specifically designed to protect the nearby harbor seals.

"I don't want the ATC to be burdened any more than it has already," Poduri says. "I’m definitely concerned with anything related to not having the project move forward."

Poduri was worried that by passing an urgency ordinance quickly, it may have resulted in unintended consequences negatively impacting the project. With the hotel seemingly on hold at the moment—it's unclear when developers will break ground—Poduri says he believes there's time for the council to go back and amend the ordinance in the future if necessary.

The city already required people to have permits to fly drones and follow strict rules about where the drones are allowed, but McDonnell brought the issue to the council back in October seeking to give the public clearer guidance, in light of people routinely ignoring those rules.

A new ordinance covering recreational, commercial and research drones came back to the council on Jan. 21, but was stalled after some councilmembers expressed concern that the ordinance could unintentionally hamper research efforts, or cause issues for commercial uses.

Bill Sherrod, associate director for Hopkins, told the council that night that the proposed ordinance could create legal issues that might negatively impact research efforts. 

"Recreational drones is where I would start," Smith said after Sherrod's comments. He told the council he wanted the staff to research potential legal conflicts for commercial and research drone operators for a separate ordinance. Councilmembers said they would support an urgency ordinance regarding recreational drones only on Feb. 4.

On Wednesday, City Manager Matt Mogensen said the staff was about to meet with Hopkins officials on Feb. 5, and would meet with other interested parties before bringing an ordinance regulating commercial and research drones back to council.