Council denied a special use permit for a change in zoning from Downtown Historic District to Downtown Historic District-Special Use Permit for a proposed cigar lounge in downtown Wylie. File Photo

Wylie City Council cleared the way to help drone delivery become a reality at Walmart.

Council approved a special use permit on 18.7 acres to allow for a drone delivery service for the Walmart, located at 2050 N. State Highway 78 at the Tuesday, Sept. 10 council meeting. The drone delivery service will have to maintain a Federal Aviation Administration Part 135 certification to operate in accordance with Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations, a council agenda memo noted, and drone operations are approved and overseen by the FAA with the FAA maintaining sole enforcement duties. 

The drone service provider, Wing, has obtained and maintains all necessary approvals to operate in the greater Dallas-Fort Worth area, city officials said. The SUP conditions allow for the use of a maximum 30’X 94’ screened chain link fence perimeter for drone docking, launching, and charging of 12 pad nests, a storage container for the storage of drones and a generator for power, according to a council agenda memo.

Council approved the measure 7-0 with changes revolving around the look and permanence of the storage container structure, after the temporary provisions expire in October 2025.

Mark Bergmann, representing Walmart Drone, told council that customer needs are changing and Walmart wants to respond to those needs. Drone delivery can be convenient and meet the needs of those who don’t want to shop on the store site, he added. 

Council saw a map of where the drone set-up would be at the store site and a video presentation showed how the drone service would work from the time the drone leaves the store, takes a package to a customer’s house, and then carefully lowers the package on the property before returning to the store’s fenced-in area. 

Drones would only operate in daylight hours.

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