....Maybe some of the bureaucrats will see this and realize they are losing out on potential revenue. ...
Brad, I know the notion of "permits" makes us wax romantic. So we think "wouldn't it be grand if my city (or county, or state, or whatever) had "permits" ? It conjures up notions of being able to detect nilly willy, with red-carpets rolled out, eh ?
But not so fast :
1) Take a look at a bunch of cities that ever dreamed up permits. And you'll notice that they are often riddled with silly stuff. Like : " Yes but you can't dig". Or "not within 10 ft. of any tree". Or "turn in all objects to the park kiosk". Or "digger tool shall not exceed 3" length", blah blah blah.
2) There's been no shortage of cities that *used* to have permits, that ..... one day ..... decided to yank-the-system. And simply say "no detecting". Why ? EASY : Because the mere fact that it's on their perpetual radar, as something they have to administer, review at each year's fiscal budget, etc... And sure as heck, one year, some desk-jockey says
"Gee, do we really want all these yahoos digging up the parks ?" 
3) Trust me : At $25 per md'r, they are not making any revenue worth their admin. time. Just too few geeks into this.
4) Thus much better that it simply be silent on the subject. Not mentioned either way. Because if it's not listed as prohibited, then presto : It's not prohibited. Why do we need a 'permit' ?? That merely assumes something is wrong. Ie.: Something must need 'princely sanction', so it must have ... uh .... "issues" that we need to keep tabs on, etc... Why that starting notion in the first place ? I happen to consider md'ing to be harmless, benign, innocuous, etc....
5) So the LESS they think of us, the better. The LAST thing we should be doing, is going and suggesting permits, if there weren't any specific prohibition. And permits are NOT the "solution" to fluke scrams or stink eyes. Treat those as flukes. Avoid those singular individuals. And not as something that can be fixed with a grand idea of permits.
.... you don't have to sneak around like you are doing something wrong. ...
Brad, was it illegal in the zones that you speak of, such that prior md'rs had to "sneak around " ? Did the "permit" bring an end to a time-when-it-was illegal there in the past ? If not, then : I NEVER feel that I'm doing something wrong. And if a lone nosey-parker gripes (since, yeah, there's "connotations" to our hobby), fine then : Go at lower traffic times and avoid those singular people.
Since when is it our job to convert every last person on earth to love & adore us ? I'm not saying I wouldn't PREFER to have red-carpets rolled out for me. But just saying that : The moment you start drawing attention to yourself, seeking everyone's blessings, is the minute bureaucrats find a reason to give the safe answer of : "no". When in fact, maybe they never gave 2 sh#ts or ever thought about it, until we came in waving flags.
