ORIGINAL: Silent-AV8R
Just for clarification, the AMA really does not have any actual flying site rules. The membership manual (cited above) contains some general field guidelines to aid clubs or individuals in setting up fields, but there is no AMA requirement that they be used.
AMA does not sanction, approve, inspect, or have any oversight on RC flying fields. The one and only requirement that even comes close is requiring clubs within a short distance of each other to work out a frequency sharing plan. And that's it.
As far as the manner of building a site, you are correct. They simply present some suggestions that are sort of dream-land for most facilities.
OTOH, there is one RULE, when applied to the liability insurance plan, that could ruin someone's day, especially in the court system of this land in which we live: [:-]
AMA Safety Code: "1. I will not willfully fly my model aircraft in a careless or reckless manner, and will abide by this Safety Code and any
additional rules specific to flying sites."