Amazon Pulled Its Westborough Drone Pad Three Days Before the Appeal Hearing. The Zoning Ruling It Won Still Stands, and So Do Three State Checkpoints

Westborough's Zoning Board of Appeals was scheduled to take up residents' challenge to Amazon's proposed drone launch pad at 64 Otis St. on Monday night, three days after the company asked the town's Planning Board to let it withdraw the site-plan application for the pad, according to the town's revised ZBA agenda and reporting by DroneXL and Boston.com.

As of early Tuesday, no published report reviewed for this article stated what the board decided: whether it ruled on the appeal, continued it or treated it as moot. The town's agenda listed the matter as 'Rod Jane – Appeals Application – 64 Otis Street' at 6:40 p.m. in the Great Hall of the Forbes Municipal Building, 45 West Main St., DroneXL reported.

<h3>What was withdrawn, and what was not</h3>

Amazon asked the Planning Board on Friday, Oct. 30, to allow it to withdraw the application. On Saturday, spokesperson Lindsay Hamilton told the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, 'We will be resubmitting a revised project soon, after further discussions with local stakeholders,' DroneXL reported. Hamilton said Prime Air 'is a welcome addition to communities' and makes 'minimal short-lived sound, comparable to a passing car.'

The residents' appeal, filed Sept. 25, does not target that application. It challenges the building commissioner's Aug. 26 ruling that a drone launch pad is an accessory use of the warehouse on the same lot, according to DroneXL. That ruling sent the pad to the Planning Board for site-plan review, which can attach conditions but cannot refuse a project, rather than to a discretionary review, possibly a special permit, that the town says a reversal could require.

That is why the withdrawal does not automatically end the appeal. DroneXL's editor argued that pulling the application lets Amazon contend there is nothing left to appeal while keeping the accessory-use ruling for a future filing. That is the publication's analysis, not a finding by the board or a statement by Amazon. The Planning Board had continued its own hearing to Nov. 10; the withdrawal request was pending.

<h3>The officials' reaction</h3>

State Sen. Michael Moore and Reps. Hannah Kane and Kate Donaghue said Amazon phoned them on Oct. 30 to say it was withdrawing, DroneXL reported. Their statement that night thanked the company 'for listening to the overwhelming concerns voiced in making this decision' and credited the resident group Mass Blue Skies and Gov. Maura Healey. The three had written to Amazon on Sept. 28 asking it to pause the project. Neither the Globe nor the Telegram & Gazette reported a reason for the withdrawal.

Mass Blue Skies told members on Nov. 1 that the withdrawal is 'just a temporary PAUSE on their plans. It is not over,' and asked residents to keep their yard signs up and attend the ZBA meeting, according to DroneXL.

<h3>Three checkpoints any revised plan faces</h3>

First, the town bylaw. Westborough's Special Town Meeting voted 510-13 on Oct. 19 to ban any commercial drone launch pad or delivery drop zone in town. The town says the bylaw went to the attorney general on Oct. 22, DroneXL reported. Under Massachusetts General Laws chapter 40, section 32, the attorney general has 90 days to approve or reject a town bylaw, or it takes effect by silence; if received Oct. 22, that review runs to Jan. 20, 2027 at the earliest, and the statute allows an extension of up to 90 more days in writing. The warrant says MassDOT's Aeronautics Division must also approve it.

Second, the state aviation certificate. MassDOT's Aeronautics Division told Amazon on Oct. 22 that it cannot open a pad anywhere in Massachusetts without a certificate of approval, that it had received no application, and that at least one public hearing must come before any certificate, according to DroneXL. State rules call for a landing-area application at least 90 days before first use.

Third, federal review. On Oct. 27, Westborough sent the Federal Aviation Administration and Amazon CEO Andy Jassy a joint letter, dated Oct. 23, backing a request from Sens. Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren and Reps. Jim McGovern and Lori Trahan for a site-specific environmental assessment before any flight, DroneXL reported. Select Board Chair Sean Keogh signed for Westborough, joined by officials from 14 other communities, including Worcester Mayor Joseph Petty and Marlborough Mayor Christian Dumais.

<h3>The stakes</h3>

Westborough would have been the first drone delivery service in New England, the Globe reported, as cited by DroneXL. Amazon's other New England attempt, in North Haven, Conn., awaits a state coastal ruling due in mid-November.

Boston.com reported the withdrawal as a pause, 'for now.' What remains unknown is what Monday's ZBA session produced, when Amazon's revised project will be filed and what it will contain, and whether the attorney general approves the town's ban. Until a revised filing appears, there is no drone pad application before the town.