Talking Transportation: The Drone Delivery Debate

Do we really want drones flying over our homes, delivering packages for Amazon? That’s the question being asked here in Connecticut as North Haven becomes the test site for long-promised delivery drones in our Connecticut skies.

Not a neighbor? Read on, as there are several other sites that Amazon might use to bring their deliveries (and drones) closer to you, including Windsor, Cromwell, and eventually Naugatuck/Waterbury, though no formal plans have been disclosed.

It was back in 2013 that Amazon’s Jeff Bezos first talked of drone deliveries, promising they’d be dropping 5-pound packages at our homes within 30 minutes of an order being placed. He said the drones would be flying in four or five years. It took nine. Bezos got himself to space faster.

The first real drone deliveries by Amazon didn’t start until 2022 in pilot programs in California and Texas, both since discontinued.

In North Haven’s case, Amazon asked the town last May for its OK to build a drone-port and the local Planning and Zoning Commission approved the plan unanimously. There was no public hearing nor public comment. The issue of excessive noise never came up.

Actually, the town doesn’t really have much say, as it’s the FAA that regulates drones. Amazon is asking that agency to approve up to 1,000 flights a day, each cruising at 250 feet and serving an area of about 7.5 miles … roughly New Haven to Branford … with 300,000 residents.

Drones could fly from 6 a.m. to 10:30 p.m., hovering on delivery at about 13 feet before dropping their packages (up to five pounds) and flying back to their base.

But what about the noise?

Amazon’s plan is to use MK30 drones, each with six rotors and a maximum speed of 73 mph. On take-off each drone generates 90 decibels of noise … louder than a leaf blower at 50 feet. On delivery it spends roughly a minute below cruise altitude. Noise level on delivery, about as loud as a vacuum cleaner.

Amazon’s North Haven warehouse sits in an industrial area between the Wilbur Cross Parkway and I-91 but there are residences nearby. The site is also close to a migratory bird flyway on the Quinnipiac River. And it’s just 10 miles from Tweed airport.

Despite the North Haven Planning and Zoning Commission’s enthusiasm for the plan, when the details came out, the objections were heard as loud as those drones.

The town’s First Selectman Michael Freda said this was “not the right way” and called for hearings by DEEP, the state’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. The FAA, as required, asked DEEP to confirm the project fits Connecticut’s coastal policies. The state agency tells me they got over 1,000 comments and a final ruling will come by mid-November.

Freda says Amazon has put the project on hold. Amazon hasn’t said so, and hasn’t withdrawn its FAA application. At Amazon, “on hold” may mean the same as “out for delivery”: it’s coming, just not yet.

You’ve got to remember that Amazon is a major employer in the North Haven area with 2,500 people when that warehouse first opened. The pols are posturing and promising on this issue as this is, you’ll remember, an election year.

We used to talk about NIMBYs, the “Not in My Back Yard” crowd. Now we must think of a new constituency … the NOMHs (pronounced “nomes”), the “Not Over My House” folks who want peace and quiet more than half-hour deliveries.

About the Author: Jim Cameron is the founder of the Commuter Action Group and advocates for Connecticut rail riders. His column is published by several publications in the state.