Township of Long Beach, NJ
Ocean County
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Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Chapter 57: Drones and Unmanned Aircraft
[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Commissioners of the Township of Long Beach 5-18-2015 by Ord. No. 15-19C. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Beaches — See Ch. 51.
Health and welfare — See Ch. 105.

§ 57-1 Definitions.

As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
DATA COLLECTION
The acquisition of information by use of one or more sensing devices.
DRONE
An unmanned aircraft that can fly under the control of a remote pilot or by a geographic positions system (GPS) guided autopilot mechanism and that is equipped with any sensing device or capable of any data collection.
SENSING DEVICE
A device capable of acquiring data from its surroundings. Sensing devices include, but are not limited to, cameras, microphones, thermal detectors, chemical detectors, radiation gauges, and wireless receivers in any frequency (including cellular, WiFi, or other data frequencies).
UNMANNED AIRCRAFT
An unmanned vehicle or device of any size that is capable of remote-control flight by any means and that does not possess any sensing device and is not capable of any data collection.

§ 57-2 Regulations.

A. 
Except as otherwise provided in § 57-3, drones are prohibited from flying in any airspace below 400 feet within the Township.
B. 
Except as otherwise provided in § 57-3, unmanned aircraft are prohibited from flying in any airspace below 400 feet within Township in:
(1) 
The airspace over any beach within Township while lifeguards are on duty;
(2) 
The airspace over any beach dune area within the Township;
(3) 
The airspace over any residentially or commercially zoned area in the Township;
(4) 
The airspace over any roads within the Township; and
(5) 
The airspace over any government or public buildings, property, or parks within the Township.

§ 57-3 Exceptions.

A. 
This chapter shall not prohibit the constitutional use of drones and unmanned aircraft by any law enforcement agency or emergency services organization of or servicing the Township, the State of New Jersey, or the United States government for lawful purposes and in a lawful manner.
B. 
This chapter shall not prohibit any state or federal agencies from the use of drones and unmanned aircraft for any lawful and authorized purpose pursuant to federal and state regulations.
C. 
This chapter shall not prohibit the use of drones by not-for-profit, licensed, or accredited educational research colleges, universities, or scientific institutions for educational, scientific, environmental, or resource management purposes in the airspace over the beach within the Township between Labor Day and Memorial Day.
D. 
This chapter shall not prohibit individuals and entities from the use of drones during daylight hours for business purposes in the airspace within the boundary lines of private commercial or residential property with the property owner's consent, except that data collection shall be limited to data collection of and relating to the properties that provide consent thereto alone.
E. 
Notwithstanding the provisions of this chapter, the authorized and lawful operation and use of drones for commercial, business, educational, scientific, research, environmental, and personal purposes pursuant to and in accordance with specific Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations, if any.
F. 
This chapter shall not prohibit the use of unmanned aircraft by:
(1) 
Any federal, state, and local agencies, including, but not limited to, law enforcement and emergency services agencies, for lawful purposes and in a lawful manner; or
(2) 
An owner of private property in the Township in the airspace within the boundary lines of that property or in the airspace within the boundary lines of private property in the Township with that property owner's consent.

§ 57-4 Violations and penalties.

A violation of this chapter shall be punishable as provided in Chapter 1, General Provisions, Article III, General Penalty.

§ 57-5 Repealer.

All ordinances or parts of ordinances inconsistent with this chapter are hereby repealed to the extent of such inconsistency.

§ 57-6 Severability.

If any word, phrase, clause, section, or provisions of this chapter shall be found by any court of competent jurisdiction to be unenforceable, illegal, or unconstitutional, such word, phrase, clause, section, or provision shall be severable from the balance of the ordinance and the remainder of the ordinance shall remain in full force and effect.