The policy debate over domestic use of drones is ongoing, and legal issues surrounding privacy are still being worked out. As 2015 begins, however, it seems appropriate to look forward to where drones may be going in the near future, and how that may bring to the forefront a legal issue that is currently abstract. As drones become more prevalent in our society, they are likely to force us to rethink not just our feelings about privacy and the ways we might utilize this technology, but they very ways we build and conceive of our cities, and how we plan them going forward. For now, zoning for drones is premature — yet we may soon see a time where localities are forced to think about how to accommodate more crowded skies.

Zoning is already a complex and controversial process, but it is likely to become even more difficult and contentious in the years going forward, as zoning rule-makers are forced to consider a third dimension to account for the particular space that will be used and affected by drones. In the coming years, there are likely to be an increasing number of legal battles over the rights to airspace — from who can fly over private property (current zoning grants property rights in the space 30 feet over your property, but that number may change with increased drone use and capabilities), to who can fly over a nuclear power plant or a stadium during a sporting event. These are not just issues of public safety and privacy, but also potentially issues of private licensing for commercial use. They go beyond the current concerns about drones, and into the ways we think about how to structure our communities, both physically and for public policy purposes.

Currently, the FAA is experiencing problems enforcing its standing drone rules; yet drones can be programmed to respond to sensors that would functionally be able to restrict them from flying over any established “no drone” zones, and this technology is improving steadily. The “drone highways” of the future will not be delineated with medians and guard rails, but with digital infrastructure that can create safe paths through areas zoned for UAV flight.

The changes may go beyond this, to become incorporated in our architecture, our aesthetic preferences and even the way we conceive of tasks like deliveries, farming and even window washing. One thing is for certain, though: domestic drone use will change the way we think about zoning and the problems we expect zoning codes to address. The problems of zoning will soon extend beyond just what can be located next door or across the street, to what may be hovering just over our heads.