Northglenn drafts drone delivery hub rules it says would be Colorado's first

Planning Commission backs new hub category

Northglenn's Planning Commission voted on 15 September to recommend a new land-use category, the Commercial Drone Delivery Hub, DroneXL reported. Northglenn says it would be the first Colorado city with drone delivery rules, The Denver Post reported. The category would cover the fenced pad where drones take off and land, not the aircraft in flight.

Northglenn's 21 September staff memorandum states that the FAA has exclusive jurisdiction over flight paths, altitude and schedules, and that the city has no legal authority over a drone once it is airborne. The ordinance text repeats that limit. The memo also says denying a permit to a launch site in Northglenn does not prevent drone delivery activity from occurring in the city.

Walmart approached Northglenn on 3 August with plans for a drone nest at its store at 10755 N. Washington St., Westword reported. The nest would take 13 to 30 parking spots. Wing, which Alphabet owns, would operate the drones, according to a council presentation by Ryan Irsik, Walmart's director of government relations.

The draft regulates the parking lot, not the sky

The draft keeps launch pads 200 feet from homes, schools and childcare centers, caps ground noise at 65 decibels at the property line and limits operations to 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., according to DroneXL. A hub would need a special use permit and a yearly review. The facility could take no more than 10% of the lot or 10,000 square feet, whichever is smaller.

Applicants would file an operational narrative listing hours, maximum altitude, expected noise, maximum aircraft count and flight frequency, plus an incident and emergency response plan. A crash would trigger a 911 call and written notice to the planning director within 24 hours. Councilman Richard Kondo asked how the city could ensure other drone operators do not collide with Wing drones, and whether operations should be limited to daylight, Westword reported.

Walmart's pitch

Josh Bucci, Wing's site launch manager, told the council the drones would fly around 150 to 400 feet high, Westword reported. They would carry up to five pounds. He said they would deliver from Walmart within 30 minutes, with five minutes of flight time. He said more than a million people in the country already have access to the platform.

Walmart marked one million drone deliveries across four states by the end of May, with an average drop-off of 23 minutes, according to the company. "We're not talking your week's worth of groceries. It's really just those convenience items," Bucci said, Westword reported.

Why Northglenn chose rules over a moratorium

Other towns in the metro stopped at the door. Castle Rock's council voted 6-0 in July to halt all drone delivery applications while it studies the issue, Denver7 reported. DroneXL reported that the freeze runs six months and that Parker followed with a nine-month pause.

Northglenn leaders saw no need for a timeout because the city's land-use powers apply only to the ground portion, The Denver Post reported. DroneXL wrote that a moratorium on the pad would have the same reach as the ordinance: none over the airspace.

City officials said the goal is to set boundaries before takeoff, not to halt drone delivery, Westword reported. Becky Smith, the city's planning and development director, said: "Without use-specific regulations, businesses interested in drone delivery face uncertainty about what the city expects and how an application will be evaluated." She also asked the council to look hard at setback and buffer distances, facility size, hours and noise levels, which could still move before adoption, DroneXL reported.

What happens next

Amendments are likely before the second reading. The special use permit would run for a year, with a chance to amend the ordinance in 2027, Westword reported.

Walmart has not submitted a formal application for a hub, Supermarket News reported.