Amazon Prime Air plan spurs Westborough Town Meeting to seek unmanned aircraft bylaw
STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, Oct. 21, 2026…..On the same day that 16 central Massachusetts lawmakers asked Gov. Maura Healey to put an indefinite moratorium on processing commercial drone delivery operator applications, Westborough Special Town Meeting attendees voted 510-13 this week to establish regulations for unmanned aircrafts.
The proposal came in response to a proposed service through which Amazon, whose delivery trucks are ubiquitous in Massachusetts, intends to deliver Amazon Prime Air packages weighing less than 5 pounds by unmanned aircraft within a 7.5-mile radius of its Westborough fulfillment center.
“The purpose of the proposed bylaw is to establish rules to protect public safety, privacy and quality of life,” Westborough Town Manager Kristi Williams said. “It’s to address noise and nuisance and property use concerns, establish rules for commercial drone ground operations, and then also define local authority within state and federal law.”
Lawmakers Seek Moratorium on Commercial Drone Applications
In a Monday letter to Healey, Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll and Attorney General Andrea Campbell, a delegation of lawmakers asked that a task force be created to review the state’s existing regulatory scheme related to commercial drone delivery operations and to recommend regulatory updates.
The lawmakers also want a moratorium “on any state agency accepting or processing any application for a certificate from any commercial drone delivery operator until that review and regulatory update is complete.”
A Healey spokeswoman said they are reviewing the request and evaluating options to protect community interests.
Sens. Michael Moore, Peter Durant, Robyn Kennedy, Jamie Eldridge and Ryan Fattman, and Reps. Hannah Kane, Kate Donaghue, Meghan Kilcoyne, James Arena-DeRosa, Jim O’Day, David Muradian, Carmine Gentile, Dan Donahue, Joseph McKenna, Paul Frost and David LeBoeuf signed the letter.
“Communities in the proposed service area have suddenly found themselves opted into a new form of air commerce that will forever change the skies right above their homes and impact their lives,” the bipartisan group of lawmakers wrote in their letter. “Our constituents have raised valid concerns related to noise, flight routes and frequency, operating hours, safety, privacy, drone cybersecurity, impacts on property values, and environmental impacts arising from commercialdrone delivery operations.”
Lawmakers wrote that there are “substantial zoning issues that need to be addressed at the local level, including whether adding commercial drone delivery capabilities to an existing ground distribution site qualifies as an accessory use.” They argue current zoning law doesn’t “properly account for the interests of our local communities” and that while Amazon is proposing to operate out of Westborough, all communities within the delivery range would be impacted by the service.
“This really exemplifies the jurisdictional balance that takes place between federal, state and local government,” Moore told the News Service. “Many times with federal preemption, usually the state then will have some jurisdictional responsibility. This is one where showing the balance between the three separate levels of government — it shows how federal preemption can really sacrifice our local communities, and it can restrict our state from any sort of legal representation of them.”
Bylaw Focuses on Ground Operations, Safety and Privacy
The Westborough bylaw requires a 150-foot “buffer” between commercial unmanned aircraft staging and ground operations and employee parking areas, workplace entrances, pedestrian walkways and outdoor employee break areas to “prevent catastrophic personal injury and ensure the physical safety of employees, contractors, and invitees on the ground.”
It also includes a privacy protection section, along with a section addressing interference with law enforcement and emergency personnel. There would be a $300 fine per violation of “an enforceable provision of this bylaw.” Williams said the bylaw also allows the Select Board to set up complaint procedures and law enforcement mechanisms.
Since the Federal Aviation Administration regulates airspace, the bylaw focuses “more on the ground-level operations of drones,” Williams said. It now must be approved by the attorney general and the MassDOT Aeronautics Division, Williams said.
Zoning Appeal Delays Amazon Site Plan Review
The Prime Air application was presented to the Westborough Select Board on Aug. 18, after which it moved to the Planning Board for a site plan review process, Williams said. There was an appeal of the code enforcement officer’s determination of drone delivery service on Sept. 25, which Williams said “has stopped the site plan application at this point and is moving to the Zoning Board of Appeals for them to make a determination.”
The Zoning Board of Appeals will hold a public hearing on the appeal on Nov. 2, and if the determination is overturned, Amazon will have to apply for a special permit from the board, Williams said.
Amazon said that it’s aware that an appeal has been filed regarding the town’s zoning interpretation, and that it is working through the process with local officials and the surrounding communities. The company held a community meeting in Westborough in September to talk with residents about its proposal.
Moore said he’s hoping the state imposes the requested moratorium “immediately.”
“We’re pursuing this path, but there’s also the path of the public’s reaction to this,” Moore said. “As it’s starting to spread to other communities, there are more communities that appear to be opposing this. So I guess, on the end of the retailer, if the public sentiment continues, is it really worth it to Amazon to alienate more of their customer base?”
Federal, State and Local Authority Remain Divided
Moore and Reps. Kane and Donaghue sent a letter in September to Amazon, requesting that the company pause its plan because of “serious concerns” about potential impacts including “noise, frequency of flights, flight path, operating hours, privacy, safety, drone cybersecurity, and environmental impacts.”
“This is such a new area of retail commerce, delivery of retail goods, that this needs to be looked at because obviously if Amazon defeats the appeal and this moves forward, they could be the first retailer to use this method of transporting goods, and we need to make sure that we have a complete, thorough assessment of what state, local, and federal authority is in this,” Moore said.
Amazon’s website lists 13 cities across the country where drone delivery is already available and three more where the service is coming soon.
“We are reviewing the letter and have been closely monitoring the situation in Westborough. We are evaluating our options to make sure that the community’s interests are protected,” Healey spokesperson Jacqui Manning said when asked about the lawmakers’ letter and Amazon proposal.
The administration noted that Massachusetts is part of a multistate coalition that filed a lawsuit challenging the FAA’s approval process for commercial drone deliveries, arguing that the federal government didn’t adequately consider potential environmental impacts and safety risks to local communities.
Federal Delegation Seeks Site-Specific Environmental Review
U.S. Sens. Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren and U.S. Reps. Jim McGovern and Lori Trahan wrote to FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford and Amazon CEO Andy Jassy on Oct. 14 urging Amazon to work with the FAA to require a “rigorous site-specific” environmental assessment of Amazon’s Westborough facility with “a robust public comment period, before authorizing operations there.”
