What are your thoughts about drone regulation in Atherton?

I would severely restrict the use of drones in the airspace above the town to government emergency services.
Also, a cursory measurement leads me to believe that all of Atherton lies within five statute miles of either Palo Alto or San Carlos airports. Does a small drone operator need authorization from these ATC facilities even below 400'?

Here are suggestions for Atherton's drone regulations:
All rules should be accompanied by their rationales so that if they no longer make sense, it will be easier to change them. For example, some drones fit in the palm of one's hand, make very little noise and have no cameras. Who knows what current and future devices will not meet the built-in assumptions of drone regulations.

Residents should be free to fly drones over their own properties, but:
1) they should not intentionally violate their neighbors' privacy. This is hard to define, but easy to recognize. A view across the tree tops clearly doesn't, but a zoomed in view of another's home and residents clearly does. Accidental inclusion of neighbors or property should not be published nor shared.
2) Drones can be noisy, so one should not be allowed to have a noisy drone operating many hours per day (e.g. as an airborne surveillance camera) if it is loud enough to bother neighbors. If it's not noisy and it's not spying, then it should be OK.

Residents should seek permission to fly them over other's private property. When drones are flown outside of one's own property, there should be labeling on the bottom of the drone that identifies the owner that would be visible from the ground. It should be made with a label maker with black on white or white on black with a minimum font height of 1/2" and should contain the owner's name and phone #.

If drones are to fly from one property to another, unless permission is obtained to overfly, they should travel over the streets over the correct lane for the direction travelled. Drones that do that are at risk of falling out of the sky for various reasons (including bird strikes), so they must be designed in a way that they would not harm people nor cars upon impact. This would be done by managing the weight, terminal velocity, softness and sharpness of the drone and its cargo. For example: the Parrot drones (as of 2014) are mostly styrofoam and have propeller guards. Owners of drones are fully responsible for the damage that the drones cause to 3rd parties, with the exception that if another party causes the drone to fall, that party would share some or all of the liability for the damage if it can be proven.

Drones flown in public parks must be away from other people (even if the drone got there first) or, if flown around people, must have propeller guards and be sufficiently harmless that it would not harm anyone if it fell.

People are not allowed to discharge firearms inside city limits except in self-defense, and shooting a drone is not self-defense unless it can be proven that the drone was armed and that retreating inside was not an option (unlikely). Drones flying over your property may be "shot down" using other means as long as those means won't harm anyone and comply with all laws. For example directed energy weapons for this have been developed, but they violate FCC rules for civilian use. If projectiles are used, such as sling shots, the user is liable for where the projectiles come down and any harm from the falling drone. Other drones that drop a net or trained birds should be OK if over your own property. Captured drones are not automatically the property of the capturer but should be handed over to the Atherton police who may require that the camera (or other electronic) contents be divulged to determine whether they were lawfully used.

Drones may not be armed with guns or explosives (other than harmless ones such as biodegradable confetti launchers).

The Town of Atherton may use drones in a way that does not comply with all of these guidelines (for example a police drone may overfly properties and photograph/video as needed in pursuit of a criminal).

Welcome to the crowded neighborhoods, skies, roads, schools and other sports and transportation systems that cause noise and inconvenience.
Living near a school, near Middlefield Rd, under the approach to San Carlos Airport and not too far from the train tracks, I get noise around the clock! And now with the building boom in Atherton, I am surrounded by 2 story houses that overlook my yard, have late night parties, kids playing, and lights on at night causing all sorts of "pollution".
I happen to love the planes, glad that I am near two small plane and two large plane airports, enjoy the sounds of kids playing and the occasional ball over the fence into my yard, thankful for my proximity to the trains, and appreciate the cooperation among my neighbors.
So as long as they don't spy or take photos of me or my property without permission and are operated thoughtfully with neighbors in mind, I welcome drones as yet another fun and useful element to the modern suburban mix.
If we want to work on something, let's start with moms crowding our streets to drop off and pick up kids, trains that blow their horns in the middle of the night, and create open spaces and/or times in our parks for dogs, kite flying, drones, and sports events as well as social and town gatherings.

I am not against using a drone for a specific purpose and with the homeowner's knowledge and permission. This includes the use of same by law enforcement. Otherwise I want no drones and certainly not in the park. The individual's right to play with new toys is superseded by an individual's right to privacy.

My main concern is noise. If these things are like giant loud flies buzzing around, it's going to be a total nuisance... Same as leaf blowers, mowers and other loud machines we have to endure.

We use this for Construction purposes. This is something that is very helpful for the homeowner and shows the progress of what is happening. (It is useful to look back on if need also.) I agree that it should only be used for the homeowner and not invade neighbors.

If people want to fly drones over private property, the owner's permission should be required. If flying over town property, drones should be permitted as long as they do not cause any problems (i.e. excessive noise, aggressive piloting, etc.). Any pictures or filming into private property should not be allowed without owner permission.

If one flies over my backyard, I'll get out my shotgun and make it go away

I would recommend a near total ban of drones for hobbyist use. My neighbor flew a drone in their yard last year, close to our shared property line, and I was quite surprised at the extreme noise level. It was very disturbing and made use of my yard impossible to enjoy. I was able to hear the drone from inside the house as well. At the time, I was also concerned about my privacy; although the drone did not cross into my yard, I did wonder if the neighbor had a camera on the drone. Although at first it seems reasonable for hobbyists to have a space in a public park, please be cautious of this use as well and consider banning such activity. The noise from the drones are sufficient to bother (and even frighten) dogs as well as people trying to enjoy our parks and other open spaces. Given the current technology, I cannot imagine being able to fly drones in the park while at the same time enable all other uses of the park to go on undisturbed. Perhaps exceptions can be made for very short term use (such as to obtain a photograph) with drone models that are exceptionally quiet.

Our little town with finite resources needs to know its limitations and concentrate its resources where a material difference can be made. Let the larger government entities lead. Enough with the micromanagement. We squander appalling time prohibiting/regulating pet chickens when there is no problem in the first place. Shall we debate nuclear power plants in town limits, GMO plants in our yards or consumed at our residences, food labeling, and gracious knows what else. Egad! Use time and resources wisely.