Youngstown, OH Drone Rules: Recreational Drones (2026)

Section 511.02 of Chapter 511, the City's drone ordinance, sets two restrictions that apply specifically to a 'Recreational Unmanned Aircraft,' the term Section 511.01(f) defines as any drone flown for sport, recreation or as a hobby. Subsection (a) caps a recreational drone's weight at fifteen pounds, and subsection (h) bars operating one from dusk to dawn or beyond the line of sight of the operator, restrictions the chapter does not extend to public or commercial drones. Recreational flyers must also follow the chapter's general restrictions that bind every drone: no equipping a drone with firearms, missiles, chemicals or lasers under subsection (b), no flying over an open-air assembly, school, hospital, place of worship, prison or police station without consent under subsection (c), no invading the privacy of a home or private space under subsection (d), no carrying contraband under subsection (e), staying clear of utility infrastructure buffers under subsection (f), and no flying over an active emergency scene under subsection (g).

Because federal law occupies much of drone airspace regulation, Section 511.04 builds in a preemption savings clause: if any provision of the chapter is struck down by a court or by reason of preemptive legislation, the rest of the chapter stays in force. Section 511.03(b) also lets a recreational owner voluntarily register a drone with the Youngstown Police Department, which keeps a log to help recover stolen or misused drones.