What happened?
McKinney City Council members voted 5-2 to approve new zoning during an April 15 meeting. The zoning allows for a fenced-off pad with nine drone charging stations and two loading docks to be built on the east side of the Walmart store, away from the main parking lot.
The new structures will support a drone delivery service provided by California-based Zipline Drone Delivery and Logistics. The company is partnering with Walmart to launch drone delivery services at stores across the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.
Council members voted on the motion after hearing presentations from city staff and a Zipline representative. Council members Charlie Phillips and Rick Franklin voted against the motion.
Looking ahead
Construction will start as soon as the necessary permits are obtained from the city, said Jennifer Chunn, senior manager of global communications for Walmart. The official launch of Zipline’s drone delivery service in McKinney is anticipated this fall.
"We are excited to introduce Zipline’s innovative drone delivery service to the residents of McKinney,” she said in an email. “We are appreciative of the city’s support and enthusiasm in embracing this cutting-edge technology. This approval marks a significant milestone in Walmart’s mission to provide customers with multiple delivery options that help them save money and live better.”
The details
Zipline drones are fully autonomous. They can carry up to eight pounds and deliver within a 10-mile radius at speeds of up to 70 mph, according to a Zipline presentation. The drones will probably start delivering within a two-mile radius at launch.
The delivery system consists of a drone and delivery droid which lowers a customer’s order on a tether. The drone has a three-foot delivery radius and customers can choose where their deliveries will land.
What they’re saying
Phillips said he did not want his legacy on McKinney City Council to include approval of the first drone delivery service to operate in McKinney. Just before the vote, he said that approval of the technology is misguiding McKinney’s youth.
“We are teaching our children simply to be lazy and that everything can be had simply by pressing some buttons on the computer,” he said.
The other side
McKinney Mayor George Fuller said drones will fly to McKinney, if not from the proposed location then from a location past city limits.
“We’re not able to stop drones,” he said. “Drones are the future. The benefits, of course as all the experts say, is that it’ll end up taking a lot of traffic off the roads and hopefully a lot of lives will be saved in traffic accidents.”
In case you missed it
This is the second time council members have voted on the zoning request. The request first came before council in March. Despite receiving a 3-2 vote in support, the motion required at least four affirmative votes representing a majority of the seven-person council.
A new request was submitted for the same zoning which features no changes from the previous request. McKinney’s Planning and Zoning Commission voted a second time to recommend the zoning change later in March.
