Rockland County, NY Drone Rules: Recreational Drones (2026)

Adopted June 16, 2015 by Local Law No. 2-2015 as the 'Drone Regulation Law,' Chapter 234 was written because drones can fly below the roughly 400-foot floor of FAA-controlled airspace and can carry cameras that intrude on residents' privacy or smuggle contraband (Section 234-2). Section 234-3 defines a drone broadly as any unmanned aerial vehicle flown by remote pilot or GPS autopilot. Section 234-4 lists the only places a person may fly a drone in the County: the person's own private property; another person's private property with that owner's permission; and public property other than parks, only with the written permission of the controlling municipality or agency.

Flying above or within 50 feet of the Rockland County Jail or Sheriff complex is separately and specifically prohibited, as is unauthorized flying above or within the property lines of a school, publicly advertised house of worship, government building, courthouse or municipal sewer facility, both drawing enhanced penalties under Section 234-6D. Section 234-5 exempts drone use by government employees acting within their jobs, law enforcement operating under Fourth Amendment search-and-seizure standards, fire and emergency crews assessing fires or rescues, and utility companies under Public Service Commission jurisdiction inspecting their own facilities or responding to a declared state of emergency. Nothing in the chapter authorizes a use that would otherwise violate state, local or federal law (Section 234-4D).