Mayor John Nichols of College Station in Texas wrote to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in July over the matter. The mayor told the FAA that the city has grown tired of the Amazon Prime Air drones loudly buzzing near their homes.
“Since locating in College Station, residents in neighborhoods adjacent to Prime Air’s facility have expressed concern to the city council regarding drone noise levels, particularly during take-off and landing, as well in some delivery options,” Nichols stated in the letter.
Nichols’ letter echoed the sentiments of several College Station residents, who shared their complaints to CNBC.
“It sounds like a giant hive of bees. You know it’s coming because it’s pretty loud,” said semi-retired orthodontist John Case. He added that “nobody really knew how noisy and annoying it was going to be” when the city agreed to be a test market for Amazon.
Internal medicine doctor Amina Alikhan likened the drones to “a fly coming by your ear over and over and you can’t make it stop.” She continued: “It is waking us up and disrupting our ability to enjoy both our outdoor and even our indoor spaces.” Meanwhile, resident Ralph Thomas Moore remarked that the drone deliveries are “a huge invasion of our personal space” and have “significant impact on everyone in the neighborhood.” (Related: Amazon drone deliveries: The greatest threat to privacy Americans have ever seen.)
College Station City Manager Bryan Woods said during a June city council meeting that officials ran tests on a Prime Air drone and found that it had noise levels between 47 and 61 decibels (dB). Chainsaws produce 125 dB of sound while heavy equipment produce between 95 and 110 dB, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
College Station wants Amazon to BUZZ OFF from the city
According to CNBC, Prime Air is part of the e-commerce giant’s efforts to find a quicker, more cost-effective solution for the so-called “last mile” – the part of the delivery that gets the package from the warehouse to the customer’s doorstep. Supporters say drone delivery can potentially offset the cost of maintaining a fleet of delivery drivers while cutting down on the need for gas-guzzling delivery vans.
Nichols’ July letter followed Amazon’s petition to the FAA asking that it be allowed to increase daily deliveries from the current 200 to 469. It is also asking for permission to operate drones between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. instead of being limited to daylight hours.
Moreover, Amazon is also asking the FAA to allow an expansion of its delivery area to up to 174 square miles (sq. mi.) surrounding its drone port. Currently, Amazon Prime Air drones can only deliver within a radius of 44 sq. mi. around its College Station facility.
In May, the FAA permitted Amazon to fly its delivery drones over longer distances and without staffers on the ground observing each flight. Amazon heralded the announcement and said it “lays the foundation” for the service to reach new markets.
But given the complaints, the e-commerce giant founded by Jeff Bezos said last month it would move its drone facility farther away from neighborhoods moving forward. Per a recording obtained by CNBC, Prime Air’s Head of Regulatory Affairs and Strategy Matt McCardle also mentioned that the company would not renew its lease in College Station and move elsewhere by October 2025.
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