Hester Park chosen as site for drones
Boynton, flying club plan to sign formal agreement that provides details on project.
The city has partnered with the South Florida Flying Club, an Academy of Model Aeronautics charter, to make Ezell Hester Jr. Community Park the go-to spot for all things drone.
Wally Majors, director of Boynton Beach’s recreation and parks department, explained the progress to residents and city officials this past week, and said the city is “kind of trailblazing,” in creating this.
Next on the list is for the city and the club to sign a formal agreement detailing the project, Majors said.
Drone talk in Boynton started as early as June 2014 when Majors first proposed an ordinance that would ban the flying of toy helicopters, drones, mini-aircraft and flying devices within city limits after he got a complaint about a man flying a radio-controlled helicopter in Nautica Sound. The proposed ordinance wasn’t passed.
The topic came up again this past July when Vice Mayor Joe Casello requested staff to research and find an area that can be designated for drone flying only, after pointing out that city ordinances ban the flying of drones in parks.
In comes Hester Park. Multicopter flying would be done on the football field, and radio-controlled helicopter flying would be done on the baseball field. The times for flying still have to be determined, but Majors said he was thinking mid to late afternoon weekdays, with more flexible times Have a Boynton issue you’d like to see The Post tackle, or a story idea? Contact Alexandra Seltzer at 561-820-4449 or aseltzer@pbpost.com.
on the weekends.
Anyone who wants to participate would have to be a member of the AMA and would wear an identification tag.
Majors says he sees this as an opportunity to work with area schools such as Boynton Beach High and Poinciana Elementary, as well as host conferences and events down the road. Marc Asselin, who helped established the South Florida club, sees it that way, too.
Asselin, a Delray Beach resident, said he hopes to work with afterschool programs to teach flight rules, safety and how to build drones, and then the students would fly them. He’s also looking at having a large drone event next year at the park that would include demonstrations such as fire crews doing a search-and-rescue mission using drones.
Already, Asselin said the group has held a drone race at the Hester indoor gym.
“We’re going to be doing a lot of great stuff with the community,” he said.