Hinsdale Must Prepare For Amazon Drones: Village Officials

HINSDALE, IL – A Hinsdale trustee urged his colleagues this week to figure out their authority as they prepare for the coming of Amazon drone delivery in town.

Recently, Amazon announced it would expand its drone service to 500 cities, including the Chicago area. It's already in states such as Arizona and Florida.

At a Village Board meeting, Hinsdale Trustee Scott Banke said he and his wife own a house in Arizona and that some neighborhoods there are concerned about issues with around-the-clock drone service. He said it hasn't become a problem yet in their Arizona neighborhood.

The federal government, Banke said, has authority over where drones can fly, but towns can "heavily dictate" where drones can launch and land and where operators can store cargo and set up commercial infrastructure.

He noted that the local Amazon-owned Whole Foods store could become a distribution center that would involve drone delivery. Besides drones, he said, residents may see carts going down the street at some point.

"It's a phenomenon of our times," Banke said. "The more we can get in front of this and have an understanding of what we can and cannot do, it is in our best interest."

Village President Greg Hart agreed.

"We need to look at what we can potentially do," he said. "To me, this is a quality-of-life issue. Yes, we have to get clear on what our authority is."