SAN ANTONIO — On Thursday, the San Antonio City Council voted 8-2 to allow a land use variance that will let Amazon make air deliveries via drone with their Prime Air service. 

What You Need To Know

  • San Antonio City Council voted to approve a land use variance for Amazon to establish a drone facility

  • The facility will make up 9,400 square feet of a pre-existing 3.6 million square feet warehouse

  • Drones would deliver packages up to five pounds to a 7.5-mile radius

  • Mayor Ron Nirenberg was one of two to vote against the variance

The facility, which is at 6806 Cal Turner Drive, will renovate 9,400 square feet of space to add takeoff and landing areas for the drones, as well as places for them to recharge and areas for drone maintenance. This would be just a portion of the 3.6 million square foot facility that is already located there. 

Sam Bailey, senior member of economic development for Amazon, spoke on the company’s behalf and said that the Prime Air initiative will add jobs to the facility, which the company refers to as SAT3, noting that there were no current plans to layoff any of the 2,500 employees that are currently staffed there. 

“The goal in bringing Prime Air is to bring delivery of customer orders to individuals in 60 minutes or less, using a fleet of FAA-approved drones that have been designed and built by Amazon in the state of Washington,” Bailey said. “We’ve chosen SAT3 because it’s a high-performing site in Amazon’s fulfillment center network, and we feel that this innovation will bring further opportunity to San Antonio.”

The drones will deliver packages of five pounds or fewer within a 7.5-mile radius of the facility. 

The dissenting votes came from Mayor Ron Nirenberg and Council member Teri Castillo. 

“Ultimately, what we’ve seen this for is to cut costs for businesses,” Castillo said. She mentioned the Teamsters and other unions’ opposition to mechanisms like drones and driverless trucks, emphasizing that it eliminates jobs. 

“This is beyond a zoning item to me,” Nirenberg said. “This is a new technology, and I sat here on the dais, and it took us three years to approve pure ride-sharing in this city. So the idea that we would be considering the influence of autonomous drones dropping things in people’s properties on a zoning agenda, to me, just doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.”

Nevertheless, the motion was passed, and San Antonio will join College Station, Texas, and Tolleson, Ariz., as drone delivery centers for Prime Air, with others on the way.