Amazon wants to fly delivery drones out of its fulfillment facility at 64 Otis Street in Westborough, Massachusetts, and it says that could start as soon as the end of October. It would be the first Amazon drone delivery service in Massachusetts. Three state legislators who represent the town now want the company to hold off.

On Tuesday, 29 September, State Sen. Michael Moore and State Reps. Kate Donaghue and Hannah Kane released a letter to Amazon's Tareq Wafaie. It asks the company to pause the Westborough proposal until it answers residents' questions on four points: operating hours, flight paths, service range and the number of flights per day, according to Westborough Patch and DroneXL.

"A federal permit does not reflect the community's trust and support," the lawmakers wrote.

What Amazon has said so far

Most of what residents know about the plan came from a public forum at the DoubleTree in Westborough on 23 September. DroneXL described the room as packed and reported that no resident who took the microphone spoke in favor. At the forum and in later reporting, Amazon gave this outline:

  • Timeline: Wafaie said the service could launch by the end of October.
  • Fleet: about six MK30 drones.
  • Volume: several hundred deliveries a day.
  • Range: a 7.5-mile radius. Wafaie said this covers about 175 square miles and parts of 13 cities and towns, as DroneXL reported, citing Spectrum News.
  • Routes: Amazon will not publish them.
  • Overflight: "There is no opting out of drones flying over your property," Wafaie told a resident, according to DroneXL's account of the forum.

Asked about wildlife, Wafaie said Amazon has not done a peer-reviewed wildlife study of its own and is relying on the FAA's review, DroneXL reported.

Some of the lawmakers' questions are partly answered by these figures. "Several hundred deliveries a day" from "about six" aircraft gives a rough sense of volume. But the letter says operating hours, flight paths, service range and daily flight counts are still undetermined, and DroneXL reported that Wafaie would not pin down hours, routes or flights per day at the forum.

What the lawmakers are objecting to

The letter lists noise, flight frequency, flight path, operating hours, privacy, safety, drone cybersecurity and environmental impact as concerns. Moore described the change this way: there is a difference between operating "delivery trucks on our neighborhood streets and flying dozens of camera-equipped drones in the skies above our homes," he said, as quoted by Patch.

The letter also describes how large Prime Air has become. According to the Shrewsbury Post's review of it, as relayed by DroneXL, the letter puts Prime Air at 13 cities across 10 states and repeats Amazon's plan to reach more than 500 communities by the end of the year. For the people who live near a new hub, the change is local.

DroneXL reported on an independent resident survey in which 92% of 853 respondents opposed the hub. It reflects the people who responded, not necessarily the views of the whole town.

Who actually decides?

The answer explains why the request is a letter asking Amazon to pause and not an order.

The FAA. Wafaie said Amazon's Part 135 air carrier certificate already covers the MK30 nationwide, though each new site still needs FAA sign-off, DroneXL reported. The site-specific environmental review for Westborough is still pending. The FAA's own guidance on drone environmental review describes three levels of review under the National Environmental Policy Act: categorical exclusion, environmental assessment and environmental impact statement. It says complex drone proposals (e.g., package delivery using a drone) normally require an environmental assessment. The page lists Amazon environmental documents and completed reviews. When UASFeed read it, no Westborough document was listed, which fits with the review still being open.

MassDOT Aeronautics. The state aeronautics division still has to inspect and register the landing area. That approval is also pending.

The Westborough Planning Board. The town's authority is narrow. The board is reviewing site-plan application 26-02275, and its jurisdiction covers the ground infrastructure: launch pads and trailers. It does not cover the airspace. The board's public hearing resumes on 6 October.

The Select Board scheduled a special meeting for Thursday, 1 October, at 6 p.m. at the Forbes Municipal Building, Patch reported. Planning Board comments were set for 7 p.m., and a discussion of next steps with the town's legislative delegation for 7:45 p.m.

Wafaie said about 80% of the communities where Amazon has proposed hubs approved them administratively, with no public hearing, DroneXL reported. Westborough is in the other 20%, getting public hearings and objections from its state delegation.

The statewide backdrop

The local fight is happening alongside a larger one. Massachusetts is one of 15 states, plus Harris County, Texas, that asked the Second Circuit on 28 September to set aside the FAA's nationwide environmental finding for drone package delivery, DroneXL reported. That case is about how the FAA handles environmental review across the country. The Westborough dispute is about one hub, its first-in-state status, and how much a town can shape a service whose flights are regulated federally.

Why It Matters

Westborough tests a gap that is becoming common as drone delivery grows. Federal regulators decide whether a site can operate in the air. The town controls only the pads and trailers on the ground. The questions residents ask most, about routes, hours, noise and the number of flights overhead, fall under federal authority. Amazon has said it will not publish routes, and DroneXL reported Wafaie's statement that no one can opt out of overflight.

Three state legislators have no direct authority over FAA approvals, so their letter is mainly political pressure. Because this is the first Prime Air site in Massachusetts, how Amazon responds could shape how the next hub proposals in the state are received. Two things are still open before the late-October target: the FAA's site-specific environmental review and MassDOT Aeronautics' inspection and registration. The Planning Board hearing on 6 October is the next scheduled public hearing on the proposal.

Sources