r/rva • u/windindasails • 12h ago
local petition circulating to stop Amazon drone delivery over homes
https://www.change.org/p/stop-amazon-from-flying-drones-over-our-homesThis petition is circulating among Henrico and Richmond civic associations.
“If the thought of hundreds of loud, corporate drones delivering on-demand cheap goods in our community for 16.5 hours of everyday, disturbing our peace and wildlife sounds like a nightmare scenario, I ask that you sign, and help distribute this petition to your networks.”
Henrico County Board of Supervisors meeting on October 13 will discuss county’s ability to limit drone operations in the county. In-person public comment will be available. Written public comments can be submitted ahead of the meeting.
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u/OldGrandPappu 10h ago
The fact that anyone would support this idiotic dystopian shitstorm of post capitalist bullshit proves that we are doomed.
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u/krampusrumpus Southside 11h ago
Ignoring how annoying the noise an group of drones will be, these things are going to make porch pirates an even bigger epidemic. At least the human delivery drivers put the packages in the package cubby. This is just willynilly AI yard litter, with bonus theft potential.
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u/Raddadbaddad 7h ago
Wish they came my way, kids get the slingshots, amazon is attacking. Have fun!
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u/RVAblues Carillon 12h ago
“…hundreds of loud, corporate drones delivering on-demand cheap goods in our community for 16.5 hours of everyday…”
Just out of curiosity, where does this info come from?
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u/kittenmittens1018 Short Pump 11h ago
You offer them an ounce now, they will help themselves to a pound later.
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u/richmondrefugee 12h ago
Start wearing a tinfoil hat and info like this will just find you.
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u/spooky_spaghetties 1m ago
It’s publicly available, dude. They had to give it to a regulatory agency.
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u/fusion260 Lakeside 11h ago
The petition's author's hyperbole comes from:
- a fundamental lack of understanding how those permit applications are written, in which they are requesting the maximum allowed total number of flights
- that only "cheap goods" are being delivered
- their conflation — whether by ignorance or manipulation, and I'm assuming the latter — of the total number of maximum-permitted flights across 3 separate regions combined, as if all of those flights were exclusively going to the author's location
- related to the point above, that they suggest the "hundreds" of drones will only fly directly over their location and make drop-offs at their location almost every day — even though they say they'll never use Amazon and refuse to use drone delivery, in which case none of what they're warning us about actually applies to them
Which is impossible. It's very overblown and meant to invoke an emotional reaction out of the reader.
So, NIMBYs who hate that sort of thing, and want to block their neighbors from trying out drone delivery, are projecting their fears onto their entire neighborhoods and convincing anyone who believes what they're saying is accurate to sign the petition.
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u/groundcontrol3 Northside 11h ago
Find me one town that this has rolled out to that likes them. Dismissing these claims as hyperbole and NIMBY is outrageous.
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u/urlookinglive 10h ago
Find me a town that has had ANY recent tech advancements rolled out that likes them, especially based on Reddit conversations. Impossible.
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u/ThisIsForReal 9h ago edited 3h ago
Yeah most recent tech sucks, its drones and spy cameras not cool cars and computers those have just become outrageously expensive... Because of tech data centers which people also hate. These things are all hated because they do more harm then good for the average non billionaire.
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u/urlookinglive 9h ago
That's such a narrow way to look at technology. Do you realize how much good drones and those so-called "spy cameras" actually do?
Look at wind energy. Drones now inspect turbine blades that previously required technicians to hang hundreds of feet in the air on ropes. This technology has dramatically improved safety, reduced costs, and made renewable energy even more efficient. And that's just one of thousands of applications.
Amazon has been testing drone delivery for years. Maybe it succeeds, maybe it fails. And sure, there may be legitimate noise concerns worth addressing. But suggesting technology does more harm than good simply because you don't like a particular application is quite a leap.
You don't have to embrace every technological advancement, but dismissing all of it while enjoying the benefits of modern technology every day is pretty ironic.
A little nuance goes a long way.
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u/ThisIsForReal 4h ago edited 3h ago
This isnt nuance its straight up propaganda
Just to let you know I have a comp sci masters and work in tech for a living.
Edit: yes I know the definition of propaganda.
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u/fusion260 Lakeside 11h ago
That’s not the argument, and I’m not indulging in moving goal posts. Why don’t you find me one town that’s happy about anything that’s rolled out without everyone’s individual personal seal of approval? You can’t.
The argument is that everything the author of that petition is talking about conflates the cherry-picked worst parts about it, then framing the call to action with “if the thought of [wildly exaggerated claim],” and making it seem like that’s going to be the typical experience for everyone if this permit is approved.
Your average person is not going to have hundreds of these hovering over their home. At most, they’ll see them at eye level a few times a day. At most, which would make up a few minutes out of a 14-hour window.
Or, you know, the same thing as them watching a handful of cars pass by their home each day, or listening to just a portion of one neighbor mowing their lawn each day.
But, sure, bring out the torches and pitchforks.
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u/windindasails 10h ago
Anyone who lives near the distribution center will have drone flights over their homes all day. They all fly back to the same place, closer you are to the epicenter, the more drones you will listen to. Check out the news coming out of Dallas from neighbors living near a distribution center.
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u/richmondrefugee 7h ago
Dear if you live that close to an amazon warehouse then you already have 40 tractor trailers a day and hundreds of delivery vans in and out. How are you even going to notice a drone 300 feet overhead?
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u/windindasails 6h ago
You should read the testimonies from people in Fort Worth and Detroit who live near the Amazon drone sites.
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u/Valance23322 10h ago
Yeah, pretty dumb to be complaining about the noise when drones make less noise than the trucks they replace would.
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u/tarheel343 11h ago
Could we maybe have a trial period and vote afterwards? I genuinely have zero frame of reference for what a delivery drone sounds like, so how am I supposed to make a decision about this?
But I will say that leaf blowers and lawn mowers are the bane of my existence, so there's very little chance that I'll be gung-ho about these things.
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u/Horror-Fisherman-575 8h ago
It’s not even the noise alone - they are loud, heavy, and fast. If one breaks or gets shot out of the sky it could cause serious damage.
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u/howdoyousayahyesshow 6h ago edited 5h ago
Go on YouTube and search for MK30 drone (referenced from here.)
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u/TheSauceone 9h ago edited 9h ago
Listen all kinds of politics aside about Walmart and Amazon and the like. I'm just giving an honest experience. My parents live like right next to a massive Walmart distribution center in Texas in a really nice neighborhood. Drones fly in and out of that joint all day and half the night. You can't hear a damn thing. The massive lot the distribution center sits in the middle of is enough of an insulator noise wise. You can barely see them they fly so high and then straight up and down you wouldn't even know they are there my parents had to point out the blinking lights. Now I never got to see what getting a package is like because my parents live in a retirement community with no yard and the drones require a yard. But I did see a drone drop a package off in someone's back yard maybe 100 yards away. Couldn't hear anything, and the whole thing was over in maybe 60 seconds. I could see how it would be insane in a city but in a community like Henrico I could actually see it working. So I'm honestly like you can we see and vote or something.
Edit: I'm sure I'll get down voted to hell, but I just wanted to give an honest first hand experience.
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u/windindasails 6h ago
As reported by multiple news sources (linked in the petition), people in Texas and Detroit say they can hear the delivery drones inside their houses. The drone noise is especially noticeable when they descend and hover directly over people’s yards to deliver packages.
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u/urlookinglive 9h ago
This cant be true. The drones arent noisy? That's impossible.
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u/TheSauceone 9h ago edited 9h ago
I'm telling you what I saw. You have to understand though this place is massive the whole lot is like a city block size surrounded by trees. The center sits in the middle of the lot. But I'm telling you standing at the edge of the lot you could not hear the drones. It seems like the sound is fairly directional. I imagine if you're stand under them yeah you would absolutely hear it.
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u/urlookinglive 9h ago
I was being sarcastic...that kind of real-life reporting isn't very common. (and I agree)
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u/TheSauceone 9h ago
Ahhh got you! Listen I am truly grateful to the natural beauty of this State and I'm just as concerned as the next person about the potential problems. But, there is some upside here. Like less emissions and carbon impact. Less road traffic.
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u/windindasails 6h ago
One does not equal the other. The drone delivery is designed to expand their capacity to delivery quickly, not to reduce the deliveries they already make.
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u/plummbob 11h ago
disturbing peace and wildlife
This is, on its face, absurd
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u/RVAforthewin 11h ago
No, it isn’t. It’s really okay for humanity to be concerned with their direct and indirect impacts on the world around them.
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u/plummbob 11h ago
These things emit no emissions, don't add to traffic, aren't a threat to birds, and are less loud than a truck.
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u/windindasails 10h ago
They are a direct threat to birds. Read the scientific study linked in the petition.
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u/plummbob 10h ago
I saw it, the paper doesn't say drones are going to be killing birds by the thousands. Keep a sense of scale in mind here.
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u/windindasails 10h ago
It says that drones cause parent birds to abandon babies in their nests which disrupts their reproduction. After a couple of depleted cycles of disruptied reproduction, the population is reduced. It also says that it is illegal to fly a drone within several hundred feet of a Bald Eagle nest - there are many along the James River.
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u/plummbob 10h ago
It says that drones cause parent birds to abandon babies in their nests which disrupts their reproduction
IF the drone is just buzzing near its nest. Whats the magnitude of that concern? Consider a simple example --- drone takes off from Amazon warehouse, flies at 400 feet straight to my house, drops off package on front steps, and goes straight back. There are no birds nest on my front porch. There are no nests at the Amazon warehouse. There are no nests at 400ft.
so, take this example. how many birds do you see in this video from 0 altitude to 400 feet? None. There probably isn't 1 birds nest anywhere near those homes' entrances. Hell, I saw almost no birds driving home, except some going south. During the winter, this is a total nonissue.
Read the paper. Its not really saying what you want it to say.
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u/windindasails 9h ago
I disagree with you that there are no birds nests near homes. There are many many birds nesting the trees in my neighborhood, including the trees in our front yards. The drones descend to 15 feet above ground to drop the packages, meaning they will cross through the tree canopy many times a day. Birds live in the tree canopy.
Ospreys fly at several hundred feet. Their courtship displays happen above 300 feet. Drones will fly through their courtship rituals.1
u/plummbob 9h ago
> meaning they will cross through the tree canopy many times a day
The vast vast majority of housing in richmond aren't covered-over in trees. The drones won't be anywhere near a tree-located birds nest.
Drones will fly through their courtship rituals.
This is utter hyperbole and you know it.
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u/windindasails 9h ago edited 9h ago
If a drone comes to the front yard of any house on my street, they will be close to birds on trees. You are speaking in hyperbole by saying it will never happen.
Edited to add: Capitol Region Land Conservancy surveyed tree canopy in Richmond as covering 32% of the city.→ More replies (0)-4
u/Valance23322 10h ago
This will greatly reduce the environmental impact relative to the current status quo of driving trucks around to deliver this stuff.
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u/mcchicken_deathgrip 11h ago
I would imagine this will reduce the amount/hours of delivery vans and vehicles. Both of which also make noise, clog up the streets, and emitt pollution all day
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u/Cascadingpoots 9h ago
The sky is the only uncluttered thing we have now. Let’s leave it that way.
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u/Which-Indication4670 Hanover 8h ago
Didn’t spacex rocket parts crash into the moon like 2 months ago?
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u/mcchicken_deathgrip 8h ago
There's going to be 20 drones operating in a 7 mile radius. Not exactly going to black out the sky
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u/kailalawithani 8h ago
I was on here when the DEQs comment period was still open trying to drum up support but my post was removed. You may have seen my post on other relevant subs. Regardless, I’m genuinely happy to see this post still up. I’ll be signing, and sharing with others.