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Pacific Grove council directs staff to draft drone ordinance to curb wildlife disturbances
Summary
After presentations from staff and wildlife volunteers, the council directed staff to return with legal analysis and a draft ordinance banning recreational drones and permitting limited research/commercial flights with safeguards to avoid wildlife disturbance.
Pacific Grove — The City Council voted unanimously Oct. 1, 2025 to direct staff to prepare legal analysis and a draft ordinance regulating unmanned aircraft systems (drones), with an emphasis on prohibiting recreational flights that disturb wildlife and permitting limited, supervised research or commercial operations.
Councilmember McDonald, who introduced the item, told council the proposal responds to repeated incidents of drones disturbing coastal wildlife — including nesting shorebirds and hauled‑out harbor seals — and to complaints from residents and volunteers who monitor those species. “We have ongoing disturbances to our birds, our harbor seals,” McDonald said, describing monitoring reports and public complaints collected by volunteers.
Public commenters with direct field experience urged strong restrictions. Lisa Chaney, a volunteer monitor for the Central Coast Black Oystercatcher Project, said recreational operators are typically unpermitted and unresponsive to education, and that recreational flights are the least manageable and most likely to disturb wildlife. “Please protect our wildlife and move ahead with an ordinance to prohibit recreational drones,” Chaney said. Laurie Adams, a naturalist with Bay Net and the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary outreach network, described frequent unpermitted drone flights near hauled‑out harbor seals and supported a recreational ban.
Staff noted existing federal, state and local rules relevant to drones (FAA airspace rules, NOAA guidance on disturbance, Marine Protected Area restrictions, and nearby jurisdictions’ municipal regulations such as Monterey and Asilomar State Park rules). Staff and volunteers explained research flights can proceed with monitoring and coordination; the proposed approach is to create a local ordinance that: (1) expressly bans recreational drone flights in specified locations, (2) allows permitted research/commercial flights under strict conditions including wildlife monitoring, and (3) provides enforcement tools for the Police Department.
Councilmembers discussed enforcement challenges and asked staff to include legal analysis of what local regulation can accomplish consistent with federal law and guidance on feasible enforcement options — including signage, listed permits, permit identification (for example, vests or visible IDs for permitted operators), and potential technology tools to assist enforcement. The council also asked staff to examine model ordinances used by neighboring jurisdictions and to propose penalties that provide a deterrent.
After discussion the council made a motion and directed staff to return with both the legal analysis and a draft ordinance suitable for introduction (first reading). The motion passed unanimously. Staff said they will consult wildlife monitors, the Police Department and legal counsel while preparing the draft ordinance.
Background: Pacific Grove had an initial drone ordinance in 2017 but council and staff said there is inconsistent coverage and enforcement relative to neighboring jurisdictions; staff cited NOAA data showing research flights have increased in recent years and noted that states and other cities prohibit or tightly regulate recreational drone use in coastal protected areas.
