this happened last weekend and its still bugging me. i was flying at a county park, nothing fancy just a big open field area near a pond, and a ranger came over and told me i needed a permit. i asked him where it said that and he kind of fumbled around and mentioned something about FAA rules and i tried to explain that the FAA stuff is about airspace not about whether you can take off from a particular piece of ground but he wasnt really hearing it.

i didnt want to make a scene so i just packed up and left. but was he right? like do county parks have the authority to require permits even if the state hasnt passed anything specific? i'm in ohio by the way. i looked up the ohio revised code when i got home and couldnt find anything super clear. feels like this stuff is totally made up as they go

ugh this is such a common situation. the ranger was probably not lying to you but also probably didnt fully understand what authority he actually had. counties and municipalities CAN regulate where you take off and land from their own property ? the FAA controls the airspace but they dont control the ground. so a county park can absolutely say you need a permit to fly there, that doesnt conflict with federal law. the preemption argument is really about states preventing cities from making their own drone bans that go beyond property management stuff.

ohio doesnt have strong statewide preemption like florida or texas do, so you're kinda at the mercy of whatever the local jurisdiction has decided. id honestly just look up the specific county park rules on their website before you go next time. annoying but thats just how it is right now until there's more uniformity in how this stuff gets handled nationally.

yeah the takeoff/landing from their property vs airspace thing is the key distinction and most rangers and even some cops dont really get it. ive had similar conversations and it never goes anywhere productive. at the end of the day even if you were technically right, arguing with a ranger in the field isnt gonna end well for you. the permit thing is annoying but honestly for most county parks the permits are free or like five bucks so its sometimes just easier to do it ahead of time and not deal with the hassle