Drone Use in Delta County Land Use Code Compliance Investigations
Delta County Commissioners requested the Planning Department's Code Compliance-Land Use Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) during the work session on February 27th, 2023. A Delta County resident requested the same SOP via email on Mar 7, 2023. Carl Holm’s, The Planning Department Director’s, response to this email request indicated that this SOP was presented to the BoCC on June 2022. We now share the Code Compliance SOP with the public.
This SOP states that sUAS (small Unmanned Aircraft Systems) AKA drones are approved to be used for inspections of land use code violations. The SOP states: “Inspect the property from the public Right of Way (ROW), if posted “No Trespassing” gain consent of the owner/responsible person(s) to enter the property. Alternatively ask the neighbor to allow access on their property to view the property being inspected or use of the sUAS.”
On multiple occasions, most recently during the BoCC meeting on March 7th during constituent time, the commissioners stated that drones are only flown over county property for gravel pit audits. During the March 7th meeting, a concerned Delta County resident requested the following information:
date and location of the public notice about the use of drones for land use code violations,
written policies where and when the drones are used,
written policies for storage of drone recording files,
written policies for review and oversight of drone recording files by the public,
code compliance officer's job description, including drone use,
valid licensing documentation (including expiration date) to operate a drone by code compliance officer,
was the drone ever operated outside of the licensed period,
how many properties have been surveilled with the use of drones.
According to the Delta County Coalition (DCC) website dated 13 March 2023 (as of this writing, no other public release regarding the Delta County drone use policy is known):
The county does not authorize or use drones for Land Use related matters, period.
The county has not and will not condone or authorize county use of drones for Land Use related matters.
County employees and contractors are not and will not be authorized to use personal or other drones in relation to county business or county land use matters.
County drones are only used over county gravel pit and county landfill and for search and rescue.
These policies and assurances to the public regarding drones will be reflected in writing in the upcoming LUC revision and not just in office notes and office procedures.
During the February 28, 2023 LUC public hearing, the residents overwhelmingly objected to government overreach in private affairs. There is a reasonable expectation of privacy on property that isn't publicly visible from a road or neighboring property. Using a drone can not be an alternative to gaining consent of the owner to enter the property. Doing so further erodes the trust between the county and its constituents.
If you would like to join Alliance for Land Liberty meetings to organize for better representation on the county level we are gathering on Saturdays in the afternoon. Find out more details here.
If you have comments on the Delta County's drone policies share them with us here and email county commissioners.
