🚁 Heads up, North Myrtle Beach: Amazon wants to fly delivery drones out of its Water Tower Road warehouse — and the Planning Commission votes on the first step Tuesday, Oct. 20.
The plan is a 13,627-square-foot fenced launch pad behind the fulfillment center at 8651 Water Tower Road, with six launch and landing pads, a divert pad, and an 8-foot barrier wall. It sits about 1,400 feet from the nearest homes, with Highway 31 in between.
A few things worth knowing:
- Tuesday’s vote is ONLY on the land-use/site amendment — not on the drones flying. The FAA separately decides flight paths and whether any flight ever happens. And a denial would not ban drones citywide.
- The decision stays with the five appointed planning commissioners. It does not go to City Council.
- Neighbors who’ve shown up so far are overwhelmingly against it — noise, safety, property values, wildlife. At last week’s public workshop, Amazon said the drones never go above 68 decibels — but the FAA’s own filing for the same aircraft puts takeoff at about 82 decibels, measured 20 feet from the pad.
The commission can approve, deny, or punt it again — they’ve already pushed this twice. The regular meeting starts at 5 PM at City Hall (1018 2nd Avenue South), and residents can speak when the item comes up. We’ll be watching. 👀
📷 Photo: Amazon
Sources: City of North Myrtle Beach; DroneXL; WPDE.
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