Monroe County, FL Drone Rules: Park Drone Restrictions (2026)

Sec. 18-27(p)(5) lists drones among the activities flatly prohibited at the Murray E. Nelson Government Center Park: no drones may be operated from the park premises without written permission from the county administrator or his designee. The same permission requirement is repeated park-by-park elsewhere in chapter 18 rather than as one countywide rule. Sec. 18-29(g) applies the identical written-permission requirement at Rowell's Waterfront Park. At the Richard A. Recupero County Park at the Hawk Missile Site, Sec. 18-30(b)(6) goes further and bars drones outright, with no permission exception at all.

Pine Channel Nature Park's Sec. 18-31(b)(7) likewise lists operation of drones from the park premises as one of a dozen prohibited activities, alongside camping, glass containers and fishing, again without a stated written-permission exception in that subsection. Because these rules sit park-by-park rather than in the general Article I provisions of chapter 18, a park not specifically named in Sec. 18-27(p), 18-29, 18-30 or 18-31 is not automatically covered by a drone restriction under this chapter. Violations of the Murray E. Nelson and Rowell's Waterfront provisions are punishable under the general Sec.

00 fine or 60 days in jail under Sec. 18-30(f), and Pine Channel Nature Park violations are punishable under Sec. 18-27(q) by cross-reference in Sec. 18-31(g).