Residents press Richardson to act after frequent Amazon drone flights over neighborhoods

Several Richardson residents told the City Council that Amazon's drone operations are creating a new noise burden in neighborhoods and asked the city to push for mitigation or study the impact.

Nikki Anderson and Scott Bratcher described frequent low flights and noise at all hours — Anderson estimated 121 flights over a 10-hour period at her home, and Stephanie Puri said her HOA logged 122 flights over a 10-hour day. Residents said flights sometimes occurred outside Amazon's posted operating window and that FAA inspections had been unable to confirm patterns on windy days.

City Manager Don Magner responded that the city recently met with Amazon engineering teams from Virginia and Seattle and called those meetings productive. Magner said staff is optimistic about engineering changes being designed and will collect contact information from residents for follow-up within the next day or two. He asked Charles Gough, assistant city manager, to coordinate follow-up communications.

Residents asked the council to consider rerouting flight corridors, investigate whether hospital waivers affect flight paths and to commission a noise-impact study; one speaker suggested routing drones toward commercial corridors rather than over backyard-focused neighborhoods. Magner said the city will continue coordination with Amazon and the FAA and will update residents about potential technical fixes and next steps.

No regulatory action was taken at the meeting; councilmembers asked staff to continue engagement with Amazon and to return with more information as it becomes available.