Amazon Drone Deliveries Are Coming to Tallahassee. The City Can't Say No.

Amazon is quietly building the infrastructure for drone deliveries at its Tallahassee fulfillment center near Mahan Drive and Interstate 10, and under Florida law, the city has almost no power to stop it, slow it down, or tell Amazon where its drones can fly overhead.

Permit filings dated September 18 show a drone storage unit going into the front parking lot of the facility. Amazon is separately advertising local jobs for Prime Air Ground Handlers at $27 an hour, on shifts up to 12 hours, to move batteries and equipment and watch the airspace for hazards. An FAA remote pilot certificate is preferred for the role but not required.

Amazon has not announced when deliveries will actually start in Tallahassee. But the company has invited drone instructors from Tallahassee State College to preview the program, and it is opening the doors to everyone else on October 20, when it hosts a free "Amazon Drone Delivery Community Meet and Greet" at the Donald L. Tucker Civic Center from 4 to 7 p.m. Residents will be able to see the MK30 delivery drone in person and ask Amazon's team questions directly.

Why City Hall can't weigh in

City Commissioner Jack Porter asked the question a lot of residents will likely ask at the meet and greet: can the city have any say over this? The answer, according to City Attorney Amy Toman, is mostly no.

In a September 23 email to Porter, Toman pointed to Florida Statute 330.41(3)(b) and (c), which strip local governments of the power to regulate how, where, or how high drones fly. Cities also cannot deny a permit or business license to a drone delivery operator based on where its "drone port" is located. Tallahassee keeps its ordinary setback and landscaping rules, but it cannot add conditions specifically because a property is being used to launch delivery drones.

The law does carve out one lane for the city: ordinary nuisance, voyeurism, and property-damage statutes still apply to drones, the same as they would to anyone else. What the city cannot do is treat the drones differently just because they're drones.

That statute, part of a 2023 bill known as SB 1068, was written with a different company in mind: Walmart's drone delivery partner, DroneUp. Florida is now one of the more permissive states in the country for drone delivery operators precisely because state lawmakers moved to keep local governments from zoning the technology out of existence, city by city.

Where things stand with federal regulators

Before drones can actually start flying packages to Tallahassee doorsteps, Amazon still needs the FAA's sign-off. Right now, Tallahassee is not on that list. The FAA's most recent Florida environmental review covers six other Amazon hub markets: Ruskin, Tampa, Orlando, Tamarac, Riviera Beach and Miami. Each of those sites is cleared for up to 1,000 flights a day out to roughly 7.5 miles, between 6 a.m. and 10:30 p.m. Tallahassee does not appear in that review.

That does not necessarily mean Tallahassee needs its own lengthy environmental study. Since late July, the FAA has been able to clear a new hub against a national programmatic assessment rather than writing a site-specific document, which can mean no dedicated public comment period at all. Neither Amazon nor the FAA has said which path Tallahassee's hub will take.

What residents can do

With flight paths and altitude off the table for local regulation, the October 20 meet and greet is shaping up to be the main venue where Tallahassee residents get to ask Amazon questions directly, about noise, privacy, delivery hours, and what happens when something goes wrong.

• What: Amazon Drone Delivery Community Meet and Greet
• When: Tuesday, October 20, 4 to 7 p.m.
• Where: Donald L. Tucker Civic Center
• Cost: Free and open to the public

Amazon has said it is "working with local officials" as it explores bringing the service to Tallahassee, but the company has not said what, if anything, would change based on feedback it hears at the event. It also has not said whether the city commission will get a formal briefing before any drones take off, or whether the October 20 gathering is the extent of the public process.

Stay connected with more coverage on Tallahassee Community Website, and share your own questions or concerns ahead of the meet and greet in our Community Forum. For more on how growth and new development are reshaping Leon County, read more business development stories and local government coverage on our site.