Berkeley on Drones
The City of Berkeley is likely to be a hotspot for legal issues concerning commercial drone use in California.
On the one hand, the University of California, Berkeley is home to the Center for Collaborative Control of Unmanned Vehicles, which is poised to become a cutting edge center on both policy and technology related to commercial drone use.
On the other hand, the City of Berkeley has been discussing for over two years enacting severe restrictions on drone use within the City. The city has so far held workshops and considered draft ordinances on the topic, but has not taken any action. Here’s a copy of an April 2014 policy that the City Council considered, and heard impassioned arguments for and against, but decided not to act on.