WESTBOROUGH, MA — Three state lawmakers are asking Amazon to delay its proposed drone delivery operation in Westborough as residents press the company for more information about noise, privacy and safety.
State Sen. Michael Moore (D-2nd Worcester), state Rep. Hannah Kane (R-11th Worcester) and state Rep. Kate Donaghue (D-19th Worcester) called for the pause in a letter announced Tuesday.
The Westborough Select Board will discuss the proposal and possible communication with lawmakers during a special meeting Thursday, ahead of a continued Planning Board hearing Oct. 6.
Amazon wants to establish a Prime Air Drone Delivery Center at its existing fulfillment facility at 64 Otis St. The proposal would bring Amazon's drone delivery service to Massachusetts for the first time and allow the company to serve customers in Westborough and surrounding communities.
The Select Board meeting on Thursday will begin at 6 p.m. in the Great Hall at the Forbes Municipal Building, 45 West Main St. Public comments will be limited to three minutes per speaker.
At 7 p.m., the board is scheduled to consider additional comments to submit to the Planning Board regarding Prime Air. At 7:45 p.m., members will discuss next steps and communication with Westborough's legislative delegation concerning unmanned aircraft. The meeting will be livestreamed and recorded by Westborough TV.
Moore, Kane and Donaghue said Amazon should conduct a broader community dialogue and answer outstanding questions before launching the service.
"There is a distinct difference between operating delivery trucks on our neighborhood streets and flying dozens of camera-equipped drones in the skies above our homes," Moore said in a statement accompanying the letter.
Moore said Amazon's Westborough operation has been a net benefit to the region, but argued that moving forward without resolving residents' concerns could damage the company's relationship with the community.
Kane said residents in Shrewsbury and Westborough have raised questions about privacy, noise, safety and environmental effects. Donaghue also pointed to noise complaints in communities where Amazon already operates drones and concerns about potential effects on birds and other wildlife.
The request followed a Sept. 23 community meeting that Amazon hosted at the DoubleTree in Westborough.
Hundreds attended the meeting, which ran about three hours as company representatives fielded questions about surveillance, flight paths, cybersecurity, wildlife and quality-of-life impacts, according to the Telegram & Gazette.
Amazon said it is moving forward because customers want faster delivery options. The company says Prime Air can deliver eligible products weighing up to 5 pounds in as little as 30 minutes.
Under the Westborough proposal, electric MK30 drones would serve addresses within about 7.5 miles of the Otis Street facility. The service area could include Northborough, Shrewsbury, most of Grafton and Southborough and portions of Worcester, Sutton and other communities, according to WBUR.
Amazon would initially use six drones weighing about 83 pounds each, according to the Boston Globe. The company hopes to eventually make as many as 1,000 deliveries per day from Westborough, although representatives have said other operating sites average about 500 to 600 daily.
Amazon said its Prime Air customer response has been "overwhelmingly positive" and that fewer than 1 percent of customer-service inquiries about the program involve noise, according to the Globe. The company said customers have used the service for items including baby formula, medical supplies and pet food.
Amazon says the aircraft's cameras and sensors are used for navigation, obstacle detection and delivery safety, not to track people. The company says no employee monitors a live camera feed and image data is processed aboard the drone. Its detect-and-avoid system is designed to identify obstacles and other aircraft.
The company describes the sound at cruising altitude as comparable to a window fan on low and says it is generally not audible indoors. During delivery, Amazon says the drone is quieter than an idling delivery truck and remains near the drop site for about 30 seconds. The drones are fully electric and produce no exhaust emissions during flight, according to Amazon.
Residents elsewhere have reported disruptive noise, according to multiple reports. People living near Amazon's Richardson, Texas, facility told CBS Texas that drones regularly pass over their homes throughout the day. Suburban Detroit officials have also received complaints, according to Axios.
Amazon says the MK30 is about half as loud as its previous model. The aircraft underwent more than 6,300 test flights and includes redundant flight-control systems designed to return it to its launch site if it detects a problem, according to the company.
The Westborough Planning Board is reviewing application 26-02275, which seeks to modify the property's existing site-plan approval to accommodate the drone center. Its continued hearing is scheduled for Oct. 6.
The board's authority is limited to changes at the Otis Street property. The Federal Aviation Administration oversees flight operations and airspace. Commercial drone delivery operators must obtain FAA air-carrier certification and the exemptions or waivers required for flights beyond an operator's visual line of sight, according to the FAA.
Amazon is also seeking approval from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation's Aeronautics Division for the landing area. The company has not announced a firm launch date.
"A federal permit does not reflect the community's trust and support," the lawmakers wrote, urging Amazon to address residents' questions before beginning service.
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