Appeals court sides with drone enthusiasts who challenged Ottawa County ban
GRAND RAPIDS — An appellate court has affirmed a lower court's ruling that Ottawa County exceeded its authority when it tried to ban the use of drones in county parks in summer 2021.
The Michigan Court of Appeals, on Nov. 17, said the ruling of Circuit Court Judge Karen Miedema in November 2021 would stand, noting the county didn't cite any errors in the lower court's ruling — a key factor when an appellate court considers a reversal.
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"The Court of Appeals is an error-correcting court," the judges said in the unanimous opinion. "Defendants are actually seeking a gratuitous opinion on a matter of their own interest — not the correction of an alleged error by the trial court."
The initial lawsuit was filed in summer 2021 by a group of drone enthusiasts called the Michigan Coalition of Drone Operators after the county enacted a policy that banned drones from being operated without a permit at county parks and altogether at other county properties.
Miedema found state law prevents local governments from enacting policies regulating drone usage, essentially allowing drone pilots to fly as long as they are compliant with federal law. By limiting the conditions in which pilots could operate their drones, Ottawa County violated Michigan’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems Act, she concluded.
The policy on the county's website currently says: "Use or operate (sic) any remote-controlled airplane, helicopter, drone, car, boat, or similar device unless prior written permission is obtained from the Commission or its Agent." Elsewhere on the site, the county says drones are, in fact, banned.
"No aerial masts, drones, or other types of aerial photography are permitted without additional prior written permission. Please note that drone permits are rarely if ever issued unless there is a direct benefit to the Parks Commission for doing so," reads a commercial photography/videography agreement the county requires all commercial photographers to complete to obtain a permit.
Section 400.5 of the County Operations Ordinance, revised in January 2022, specifically prohibits the use of drones to drop “contraband” over the county jail in West Olive, bans the “harassment” of wildlife or people with drones, and bans photographing, video recording or audio recording of any work area, person or proceeding inside a county building, with exceptions for public proceedings.
In January, Ottawa County Legal Counsel Doug Van Essen said those revisions — made after Miedema's ruling — still maintain most of the protections the county sought without running afoul of the court.
"This makes our ordinance consistent with the court’s ruling, and also gives us some protections, I would say 80 percent of the protections we were seeking with the ordinance in its original form,” Van Essen said in January.
It's unclear when the website will reflect those changes.
— Sarah Leach is editor of The Holland Sentinel. Contact her at sarah.leach@hollandsentinel.com.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Michigan Court of Appeals rules against Ottawa County in drone ban injunction case
