Above: The huge online retailer may have struck too light of a note when they promoted a public forum on their sky high ambitions. After a backlash and coordinated opposition, the retailer is hitting pause on drone deliveries out of Westborough to Southborough and other nearby towns. (image cropped from Facebook event)
In September, I alerted readers that amazon was actively pursuing approval for a new rapid delivery system out of their Westborough facility. Those plans for area drone deliveries, including in Southborough, won’t be getting off the ground anytime soon. But that doesn’t mean they’re dead forever.
Amazon’s promoted plan would have included drones flying over Southborough properties to drop small deliveries on lawns.1. Not surprisingly, a lot of residents from Westborough and the surrounding impacted communities were concerned and upset. And politicians took notice.
Initially, government officials in towns that neighbor Westborough were worried that the new drones could impact their towns without them having a local say. But Westborough itself pushed back on the plans, as did state officials.
Westborough’s Select Board brought forward a Special Town Meeting Article that sought to restrict “unmanned flight”. That bylaw passed 510-13 a few weeks ago. But there was uncertainty about what would happen when the Attorney General’s office vets the language. And there was worry that amazon would sue/appeal if the Planning Board denied its application to modify the site plan to allow the drone launch pads.
Meanwhile, MassDOT (Mass Dept of Transportation) and other politicians were pushing for state review and regulation of the drone use, rather than fully deferring to the FAA (Federal Aviation Authority).
On Friday, amazon apparently looked at all of the public opposition and legal hurdles, and raised the white flag — for now. The online retailer announced on Friday that it would withdraw its application to the Westborough Planning Board.
The announcement refers to the withdrawn site approval application as “without prejudice”. That does leave the company the option to apply again in the future. The letter states:
Amazon values its relationship with the Town of Westborough and looks forward to continuing to work with Town officials on next steps.
Amazon’s news was quickly shared by three legislators who had publicly opposed the effort. One of those was Southborough’s Rep, Kate Donaghue. The message posted on Facebook by Donaghue stated:
Statement from:
Senator Mike Moore
Representative Hannah Kane
Representative Kate DonaghueTonight Amazon called us to share that they would be withdrawing their application to the Town of Westborough for a drone package delivery launch site. We are extremely pleased and thank Amazon for listening to the overwhelming concerns voiced in making this decision.
We are deeply grateful to the residents of Westborough and surrounding communities who came together to effectively advocate and share their concerns about noise, safety, privacy, environmental and quality of life impacts. Their engagement made clear how important these issues are to our communities.
Thank you to Mass Blue Skies for leading the grassroots advocacy efforts, the local officials in Westborough and surrounding communities who shared numerous municipal concerns, Governor Healey and Lieutenant Governor Driscoll for their support, and to our colleagues in central Massachusetts and the federal delegation led by Senator Markey’s office for their partnership and advocacy. This is a good example of what we can accomplish when we all work together.
In addition to our town, Donaghue represents most and a large section of Northborough (also in the mapped drone flight area).2
The trio’s original opposition letter incorporated feedback from amazon’s September 23rd public forum on their plans. The Community Advocate reported on the forum:
The community meeting went sideways for Amazon quickly, with an overwhelming majority of attendees pushing against the drone proposal. . .
Residents quickly formed that opposition. And just days after the hearing, people from Westborough, Northborough, Shrewsbury, Southborough, and other towns have created organizations, sent letters, and campaigned in an organized opposition to delivery drones.
You can read more about that here.
The September 28th letter from Moore, Kane, and Donaghue didn’t ask the retailer to fully trash the plan. Instead, they asked the retailer to hit pause until more details are fleshed out:
As you heard directly, the overwhelming response of our constituents is one of serious concerns about the potential impacts commercial drone delivery operations will have on their community, including concerns related to noise, frequency of flights, flight path, operating hours, privacy, safety, drone cybersecurity, and environmental impacts. These are valid concerns. At this time, we request that Amazon pause implementation to fully address these concerns before moving ahead with their proposal. . .
It is unfair to expect the community to fairly evaluate a proposal when key details remain undetermined.
We understand that Amazon is in the process of FAA permitting for its commercial drone delivery service. However, a federal permit does not reflect the community’s trust and support. . .
More broadly, the approach undertaken by Amazon here will set the tone for future Amazon expansions in Massachusetts and the greater New England region. We urge Amazon to address these concerns raised by our constituents before moving forward.
You can read that full letter here.
