Highland Village planning commission recommends allowing drone hubs at Walmart site with conditions

Highland Village’s Planning & Zoning Commission voted to recommend a zoning text amendment Wednesday that would add "drone delivery hubs" and "drone staging areas" to the comprehensive zoning ordinance and permit an applicant, Wing on behalf of Walmart, to locate operations at 3060 Justin Road pending final site review.

Autumn Amen, community development coordinator, told commissioners the draft ordinance would allow administrative approval if an application met written development standards and require a conditional use permit for any variance. "If an application does not meet the standards ... then they have to submit for conditional use permit," Amen said during her briefing.

Representatives for Walmart and Wing described the proposed site and operations during the public hearing. Erin Ragsdale, speaking for Walmart, introduced the company’s local digital coach and called the program "exciting" for North Texas. Josh Bucci of Wing said the company operates under FAA oversight and Part 135 air-carrier rules, described the vehicle as roughly 11.7 pounds with a current payload limit of about 2.5 pounds…