Berlin Considers Drone Regs

BERLIN – Town officials agreed this week to begin investigating ways to regulate the use of drones within Berlin.

During Monday’s meeting of the Berlin Town Council, a discussion of updates to the section of town code addressing parks and recreation quickly turned into a conversation about the use of drones in town.

“Having these things whirl by you at 60 miles an hour is a little unnerving,” Councilman Thom Gulyas said.

Gulyas brought up the subject during the first reading of revisions to the “Parks and Recreation” section of town code. He told the council he’d been “buzzed” by a drone one night and realized the issue of unmanned aerial vehicles was probably one the town should consider.

“It’s something we need to think about,” he said.

Other council members agreed. Several officials reported having seen them flying around town and others said they’d seen images of events such as the town’s Christmas parade that had been captured by unmanned aerial vehicles. Though there was initially discussion of working language about drones into the revisions already proposed, staff advised further study on the subject.

“That’s probably something that should be looked at town-wide,” said Mary Bohlen, the town’s administrative services director.

David Gaskill, the town’s attorney, agreed and pointed out that if incorporated into the proposed revisions, any regulations concerning drones would only apply to town parks.

“It’s really not a good practice to put a prohibition on drones town-wide in an article dealing with parks,” he said.

Though officials pointed out that currently the town had nothing in writing regarding drones, Gaskill advised researching the issue before implementing any prohibitions.

“Some study and discussion should go into this,” he said. “There are uses of those things that are beneficial to the community.”

He agreed to look into the matter and is expected to work with town staff to come up with recommendations for the council.

The revisions to town code that prompted the drone discussion, introduced with a first reading Monday, will be voted on in July. According to Bohlen, town staff first began reviewing the park-related ordinances following the town’s purchase of Berlin Falls Park. Bohlen said officials anticipated requests for special events that would involve alcohol at the park. Currently, alcohol is not permitted in any of the town’s parks. Changes proposed this week would prohibit it “unless explicitly approved by the mayor and council as part of an organized special event.”

In addition to that change, there are several updates and clarifications included in the proposed new language.

“As we went through it, we realized we might as well get it to say everything we wanted it to,” Bohlen said.

The proposed changes can be viewed on the town’s website, www.berlinmd.gov.

About The Author: Charlene Sharpe

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Charlene Sharpe has been with The Dispatch since 2014. A graduate of Stephen Decatur High School and the University of Richmond, she spent seven years with the Delmarva Media Group before joining the team at The Dispatch.