Council OKs plane ban

Jose Paul Corona

The skies above Huntington Beach may be ad-free from now on.

The City Council passed a controversial law Monday night that

prohibits any plane with an advertisement in tow from flying over the

city or over the waters off Huntington Beach out to three miles.

Although the ordinance passed 5-2, confusion about the law

persisted among council members.

Contrary to city reports stating that banner towing planes would

have to fly 1,000 feet above the city, the ordinance states that the

planes will not be allowed to fly over the city or beaches at any

altitude, said Robert J. Wheeler, the attorney who wrote the

ordinance for the city.

“It’s a straight-out ban,” Wheeler said. “It doesn’t make any

difference what the altitude is, as long as it’s over land areas of

the city and three miles out over the ocean.”

Planes flying over the city will be fined a maximum of $250, which

will increase after subsequent violations, Wheeler said.

The Huntington Beach Police Department Helicopter Unit will be in

charge of tracking down violators. If officers in the helicopter spot

a plane in the air while they are on patrol they will be asked to

write down the plane’s identification numbers, which will then be

sent to the Federal Aviation Administration, Wheeler said.

Councilman Ralph Bauer, who voted against the law, said he doesn’t

feel that it is practical or enforceable.

“I voted against it because I think it’s ridiculous,” he said.

“I’ve talked to the police department and they aren’t going to

scramble the helicopter and we’re going to get a bunch of calls. If

they are chasing bad guys they certainly aren’t going to divert

themselves. It’s not enforceable realistically.”

But Councilwoman Connie Boardman, who introduced the issue in

July, said it has been an area of great concern for many years and

one previous councils looked into. Boardman reintroduced the topic

after she learned that the 9th U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco

upheld a similar law enacted by the city of Honolulu, Hawaii. The new

law is based on Honolulu’s law.

“I think it’s going to provide some much needed relief for people

in the city,” she said.

While the City Attorney’s Office says the ordinance is valid and

enforceable, others disagree.

Bob Dobry, owner of Long Beach-based Aerial Promotions, Inc. said

he doesn’t believe that the council has the right to control

airspace.

“Any city can pass any ordinance they want to,” he said. “The

[Federal Aviation Administration] controls the airspace.”

Dobry’s company is the largest of its kind on the West Coast and

it will remain in business despite the ban, he said.

“The city of Huntington has other issues that they should be more

aggressive with, for example, crime, waste management and balancing

the budget,” Dobry said.

It appears as though FAA officials may agree with Dobry.

“The FAA has long had jurisdiction over airspace issues,” FAA

spokesman Jerry Snyder said. “So we certainly will be interested in

reviewing the legislation and how it would impact our ability to

handle air traffic and airspace in California.”

While Snyder wouldn’t comment on any action that the FAA might

take in response to the city’s ordinance, he did say that the city’s

ordinance and Honolulu’s are different.

“The state of Hawaii didn’t ban banner tows, they restricted it,”

he said.

Besides possible action by the FAA, the city also faces possible

lawsuits from business owners such as Dobry.