A ban enacted in September by the southern California coastal city of Huntington Beach on all aerial advertising flights in its airspace, which could have had profound implications for general aviation, has been repealed before being enforced. The law, believed to be the first attempt by a local jurisdiction in the continental U.S. to regulate airspace use, was rescinded in a secret city council session in November.
Despite the FAA’s long-established jurisdiction over navigable airspace, the city council had claimed the right to regulate and even forbid flight in the air over Huntington Beach and up to three miles offshore. Citing safety, noise and pollution from overflights–specifically by banner-towing aircraft–the city of 190,000 sought to levy fines of up to $1,000 on anyone flying over the town at any altitude from the surface to infinity. The ordinance specified banner towing, externally mounted signs and light arrays on any airborne platform, but did not prohibit skywriting or commercial sightseeing flights or delineate aircraft by size, weight or engine power.
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