Riverside, CA Drone Rules: Commercial Drones (2026)

045 sets a distinct, stricter standard for non-hobbyist drone use than the section's model-aircraft rule. It applies to any "civil Unmanned Aircraft" (UA), which the Code defines as an unmanned aircraft operated for any purpose other than strictly hobby or recreational flying, expressly including commercial purposes or use in furtherance of, or incidental to, any business or media service or agency. Operators of such aircraft within Riverside city limits must conform to FAA certification requirements, obtain whatever exemptions the FAA requires for that operation, and notify the FAA Air Traffic Control Tower, mirroring the proximity-notification duty imposed on hobbyist flights near the airport but applying it as a baseline operating condition for commercial UA use citywide.

Because the ordinance folds in FAA certification and exemption requirements by reference, a real-estate photographer, news outlet, or delivery operator flying in Riverside must independently hold whatever FAA Part 107 remote pilot certificate or waiver federal law requires for that flight, on top of the local tower-notification step, the City ordinance does not create its own separate licensing scheme but ties local compliance directly to federal certification status. This section sits within Title 12's Airport chapter, administered by the Airport Manager, alongside the model-aircraft and balloon/kite/rocket restrictions in the same subchapter.