Wayne County, NC Drone Rules: Airport Proximity Rules (2026)

Wayne County Code, Appendix B, Article XXIV of the Wayne Executive Jetport Rules and Regulations bars radio-controlled airplanes and all forms of rockets from flying or becoming airborne on airport property. The rules do not use the word 'drone,' but this is the operative local restriction on any unmanned, remotely piloted aircraft launched on or over the Jetport's own property, since the prohibition covers all radio-controlled airplanes rather than a narrower model-aircraft category. The only carve-out is for a special event or occasion the airport manager approves and supervises in advance: for that window, the airport manager allocates a specific time slot and publishes a NOTAM to flight services covering the activity.

Outside that approved window, the ban applies across the entire airport property, which the Rules and Regulations define to include runways, taxiways, ramp and tie-down areas. The rules were adopted by the Wayne County Board of Commissioners on May 5, 2015 and amended June 19, 2018, and the airport manager, with the Wayne Executive Jetport Commission, reviews the ordinance annually. Appeals from enforcement decisions under this appendix go to the assistant county manager under Article XXXV, rather than to the Board of Adjustment that hears zoning appeals elsewhere in the code.