Portland City Council in Oregon, United States, has voted to consider a moratorium on building facilities for commercial uncrewed aircraft systems such as delivery drones.
The vote is seen as an initial step and the council has merely bought itself time to consider a possible pause on development in this area. Amazon had, until very recently, been exploring the potential of expanding its drone delivery service to Portland and building a dedicated facility there.
The council’s new resolution authorises the City Attorney to provide written notice to the Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD) of the City Council’s intent to consider a pause on the development of facilities necessary to support commercial uncrewed aircraft systems. It requires that the DLCD receive 45 days notice before any such moratorium can be adopted by the City Council. This legislation expresses the council’s intent to consider a moratorium, but does not itself adopt a pause or amend the city’s development regulations.
This legislation also delegates authority to the Council President to take any additional procedural, administrative, intergovernmental, or legal action related to the council’s consideration of such a moratorium that would otherwise require the authorisation of the full council.
Portland City Council says it has received a “high volume of constituent outreach related to the development of facilities necessary to support commercial unmanned aircraft systems in the last month”. Since 28 September, messages to District 2 councillors regarding these facilities have represented the single most common topic received, the council notes.
Consequently, the council anticipates “significant community involvement” in the decision process on whether or not to impose a pause, including outreach to councillors individually, written and oral testimony, and other forms of communication.
“The choice of whether or not to impose a moratorium will have significant community impacts,” Portland City Council said on 14 October. “However, this resolution providing notice of forthcoming consideration of a potential moratorium has the community impact of creating a pathway to public participation.”
For more information
Image: Trang Nguyen / Unsplash