jimzz977, well .... better you than me. Nah just kiddin' ya. That's odd. But hey, seriously now .... I can dig some pretty deep holes with nothing but a screwdriver (aka "probe"), when I put my mind to it! haha. Just don't be in the middle of deep retrievals when any busy-bodies are watching. Doh!
And your post just goes to show something: Whenever the subject of "permits" comes up (for the rare few cities that ever dreamed up such a thing), md'rs eyes wax romantic! Seems that every md'r thinks that "permits" are a great idea. Like as if it conjurs up images of just being able to flash that paper to any griper, and they'll slink away embarassed for daring to have questioned you, eh ? Ie.: an image of just being able to detect nilly-willy anywhere, with an express "allowance" . But as your post shows: anytime there's "permits" anywhere for this, they will invariably be riddled with silly restrictions. Ie.: "yes but you can't dig". Or "not within 20 ft. of a tree", or "on the sandy beach only", or "digger shall not exceed 3" in length", blah blah blah. Or they simply revoke the permit years later, and disallow md'ing altogether.
Why? Because the fact that it's something they have an express "permit" for, merely means that it's perpetually on their radar (in annual meetings to review all their permits and paperwork), as something they need to always think of, scrutinize, etc... And sure enough, one year, someone there is bound to think "gee, do we really want all these yahoos digging in the park?".
Thus no, permits are rarely ever a good thing. Much better that laws are simply silent on the subject (detecting not addressed either way). And therefore, if it's not prohibited, then presto, it's not prohibited. It need not have an express allowance, to begin with.
