Belvedere eyeing drone rules before deliveries arrive

A Wing delivery drone lowers a package on a tether. Alphabet’s Wing announced in March that it plans to bring drone delivery to the Bay Area, and Belvedere is weighing an ordinance to regulate where such deliveries can land and drop off. (Wing Aviation LLC)

Belvedere is weighing a first-in-Marin ordinance to regulate the ground-level side of commercial drone delivery, preparing for a near future in which food and packages arrive by air.

City staff presented the council with a draft that focuses on how and where drones may take off, land and drop packages within city limits. The rules do not restrict overflight or flight paths, which remain under the jurisdiction of the Federal Aviation Administration. Instead, the ordinance targets the local, ground-level impacts of drone delivery that are increasingly drawing attention in the Bay Area.

In a report to the council, staff said the city’s narrow streets, constrained rights of way and limited emergency-access routes make it especially important to act before routine commercial drone delivery takes hold.

Mayor Sally Wilkinson, who helped staff write the ordinance, pressed for action.

“We want something on the books before this comes to life,” she said.

Other councilmembers urged caution. Councilmember Jane Cooper criticized the proposed language, saying it was too vague and could lead drone delivery companies to take advantage of it. Councilmember Pat Carapiet likewise worried that the ordinance lacked specifics in how it would be enforced and tracked. But City Attorney Andrew Shen said the vagueness was intentional, the city’s attempt to keep the law “flexible” as it learns to deal with a new technology and business practice.

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