The News
Residents of Westborough, Mass, voted 510-13 at a special town meeting to ban launch pads and drop zones for commercial drones. The measure could block Amazon’s plan to begin Prime Air deliveries from its local warehouse by the end of 2026. The bylaw cannot take effect until the state attorney general and MassDOT’s Aeronautics Division approve it.
Amazon said it remains “committed to engaging with local officials and community members” as it assesses its plans for the area.
Nobody spoke against it at the meeting. The state has 90 days to rule.
The details
Amazon pitched the Westborough warehouse as its first Prime Air site in New England, with a goal of 1,000 drone deliveries a day.
Drones about 5 feet across would carry packages of five pounds or less within a 7.5-mile radius, reaching Northborough, Shrewsbury, Southborough, most of Grafton and parts of Worcester.
Amazon says that weight limit covers 60% of its customers’ most frequent purchases. It plans to fly in nearly 500 US cities and towns by year’s end.
The bylaw regulates only the ground. It leaves flight paths, speeds and air traffic to the FAA and limits where commercial drones may take off and land.
It sets a 150-foot buffer around employee parking and workplace entrances, with a $300 fine per offense, the most the town can charge.
“It’s one logo today, every logo tomorrow,” said Dan Kline of Mass Blue Skies, the residents’ group opposing the site.
The state has since made itself a second gate. MassDOT’s Aeronautics Division told Amazon it needs a state certificate before it sets up a takeoff and landing area anywhere in Massachusetts.
The letter says Amazon’s FAA Part 135 air carrier status makes its flights commercial operations under state law. The division expects to hold at least one public hearing.
Sixteen state legislators asked Gov Maura Healey for a task force on delivery drones and a pause on state certifications while it works. “Whatever happens here will be the precedent for obviously Massachusetts and maybe New England,” said state Sen Michael Moore.
The federal review behind new drone hubs is in court too. The FAA’s nationwide environmental assessment, adopted in July, lets qualifying operators open hubs without a site-specific study.
The assessment modeled noise from an average of 1,150 deliveries per hub.
Fifteen states, Massachusetts among them, and Harris County, Texas, petitioned a federal appeals court to overturn it. The assessment stays in effect while the case runs.
What’s next
The Zoning Board of Appeals hears residents’ challenge to the drone site on Nov 2. The Planning Board resumes its review of Amazon’s site plan on Nov 10.
(Photo: Amazon)
