Amazon has dropped, at least for now, its plan to launch delivery drones from its fulfillment center in Westborough, according to State House News Service and This Week in Worcester.
In a letter to the town dated Friday, Oct. 30, the company asked the Westborough Planning Board to approve the withdrawal of its site plan review application “without prejudice.” That status leaves Amazon free to file again later.
Lawmakers got a call Friday night
State Sen. Michael Moore of Millbury and state Reps. Hannah Kane of Shrewsbury and Kate Donaghue of Westborough announced the decision in a joint statement Friday evening.
“Tonight Amazon called us to share that they would be withdrawing their application to the Town of Westborough for a drone package delivery launch site,” they said. “We are extremely pleased and thank Amazon for listening to the overwhelming concerns voiced in making this decision.”
They credited the resident group Mass Blue Skies, local officials and the communities that raised concerns about noise, safety, privacy, environmental and quality-of-life impacts, WBUR reported.
Amazon closed its letter by saying the company “values its relationship with the Town of Westborough and looks forward to continuing to work with Town officials on next steps.”
What Amazon proposed
Amazon planned to turn part of the parking lot at 64 Otis St. into a takeoff and landing area for its MK30 delivery drones, according to This Week in Worcester. The drones would have carried packages weighing less than 5 pounds to addresses within 7.5 miles. It would have been the first Prime Air site in New England.
Amazon told residents it hoped to eventually make up to 1,000 deliveries a day from the site. The company says its drones carry redundant safety systems and detect-and-avoid technology, and that the MK30’s propeller design cuts its perceived noise by nearly half compared with earlier models.
How the opposition built
Amazon presented the plan to the Select Board on Aug. 18, and the Planning Board opened its hearing Sept. 15. Residents appealed a ruling by the building commissioner that treated the launch pad as an accessory use. A Zoning Board of Appeals hearing on that appeal had been set for Monday, Nov. 2.
On Sept. 28, Massachusetts joined 14 other states and Harris County, Texas, in suing the FAA over a nationwide environmental assessment that lets the agency approve new drone delivery markets without a separate review for each one. On Oct. 19, Westborough Special Town Meeting voted 510-13 to adopt a bylaw barring commercial drone launch pads and drop zones. That bylaw still needs approval from the attorney general and MassDOT’s Aeronautics Division.
On Oct. 22, MassDOT Aeronautics Administrator Denise Garcia wrote Amazon that it cannot set up a drone takeoff and landing area anywhere in Massachusetts without a certificate of approval from her division, This Week in Worcester reported.