Highland Village council moves to require CUPs, schedules resident workshop for proposed Walmart drone hub

A majority of the Highland Village City Council signaled support Feb. 10 for treating drone delivery hubs and staging areas as conditional uses, and directed staff and company representatives to organize an on-site demonstration and neighborhood workshop before the city proceeds with public hearings. The action came during an early work session focused on a draft text amendment to the comprehensive zoning ordinance.

City staff told the council the redlined ordinance now lists drone hubs and staging areas as conditional use permit (CUP) items rather than administrative uses, so each proposed location would require notification and public hearings. Staff said the change was intended to give the city discretion to consider variations from the standards during the CUP or plan-development review.

Several council members said that, based on ordinances they reviewed in other North Texas cities, setbacks and operating hours need firmer definition. One councilmember reported that many peer cities set average setbacks of 250–300 feet, required a CUP, and imposed operating-hour limits (examples included roughly 8 a.m. starts and early-evening cutoffs) and recommended decibel limits in the 60–65 dB range. Staff acknowledged the operating-hours language remained unresolved; the draft had used a 7 a.m.–7 p.m. envelope as a maximum, but staff said FAA limitations (such as dusk restrictions) could also affect actual operations.

Representatives for Wing and Walmart told the council they have conducted trial programs in recent years and are willing to host resident outreach, community demonstrations and visualizations. Company speakers said the Highland Village hub plan would use 12 charge pads (about 12 active drones on site with a few reserves), and that the current proposed nest would sit about 285 feet from the nearest residential property line. Company representatives said charging cycles and pad counts limit sortie capacity and cited prior trial findings that people’s concerns about noise dropped after the companies redesigned propellers and noise profiles; they gave a ballpark noise figure of under 60 dB at 100 feet for newer models.

Neighbors and multiple council members pressed for topographic visuals and on-site demonstrations at times and distances that reflect actual backyards, not wide-open test fields. Residents who live adjacent to the proposed site said they want door-to-door contact and direct opportunity to hear and observe a working nest before any CUP is approved. The council instructed staff to coordinate a workshop/demo with the company and to ensure targeted outreach to homes within the setback area; staff and company agreed to return with scheduling options and more concrete operational data.

No formal vote was taken on the ordinance during the Feb. 10 discussion. Staff said the next steps will include community engagement (the workshop and then a formal public hearing as part of the CUP process) and that the city will follow statutory notification procedures for any CUP application.