Birds and planes in Plano may eventually have to share the sky with drones delivering packages — but first, they'll have to wait for the Plano City Council to make a decision on a proposed zoning change.
The Plano city council was set to vote on a zoning change about drones during Monday’s meeting — but it tabled the item until Feb. 26. The council was first scheduled to vote on the issue Oct. 23. Plano’s Planning and Zoning Commission voted in favor of the zoning change Oct. 3.
If the zoning change passes, restaurants, grocery stores, shopping centers and retail stores in Plano would be permitted to have small commercial drone delivery hubs. The small aircrafts would have a takeoff weight of less than 55 pounds.
The ordinance also would allow for air taxis, also known as advanced mobility aircrafts, once that technology is more widely available. The Federal Aviation Administration released a plan last summer called Innovate28 that details how the aviation administration will integrate these aircrafts into its operations by 2028.
The staging area for the drones can’t be within 150 feet of a residential property or a public park.
Got a tip? Email Caroline Love at clove@kera.org.
Caroline Love is a Report For AmericaCorps member for KERA News.
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