Agenda - Planning Commission - 12/07/2017

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Zoning Bulletin November 10, 2017 I Volume 11 I Issue 21 The court also found that the FAA regulations preempted the Ordinance's ban on drone use below an altitude of 400 feet and over private property without the express permission of the owner of the private property and over public property without prior permission from the City. The court found that those provisions of the Ordinance worked in tandem to "create an essential ban on drone use within the limits of the [City]," since the FAA mandated that drone operators keep drones below an altitude of 400 feet from the ground or a structure (see 14 C.F.R. § 107.51). In other words, given the FAA mandate, the City's ban on drone use below an altitude of 400 feet essentially eliminated any drone use in the confines of the City, absent prior permission. Finally, the court found that the FAA regulations preempted the Ordinance's ban on drone use "at a distance beyond the visual line of sight of the Operator." The court pointed to FAA rules regarding aircraft safety and the visual line of sight for pilotless aircraft operation (see 14 C.F.R. §§ 107.31 and 107.205), and determined that the Ordinance "limit[ed] the methods of piloting a drone beyond that which the FAA has already designated, while also reaching into navigable space." Case Note: In its decision, the court noted that the remaining, unchallenged portions of the Ordinance "stand." Zoning News from Around the Nation CALIFORNIA In late September, Governor Jerry Brown signed into law 15 bills aimed at addressing the "affordable housing crises." Among those new laws are: Senate Bi11 35, which requires cities approve "projects that comply with existing zon- ing if not enough housing has been built to keep pace with their state home- building targets"; Assembly Bill 73, which provides that a "city receives money when it designates a particular community for more housing and then additional dollars once it starts issuing permits for new homes" provided at least 20% of the housing is reserved for low- or middle -income residents, "and projects will have to be granted permits without delay if they meet zon- ing standards"; Senate Bill 540, which "authorizes a state grant or loan for a local government to do planning and environmental reviews to cover a partic- ular neighborhood," provided the developers in the designated community reserve a certain percentage of homes for low- and middle -income residents "and the city's approvals there would be approved without delay"; Assembly Bill 1505, which allows cities to "once again implement low-income require- ments," forcing developers to set aside a percentage of their projects for low- income residents; Assembly Bill 1397, which "forces local governments to zone land for [buildable] housing"; Senate Bill 166, which requires cities to © 2017 Thomson Reuters 11