RESEARCH & SOURCES

Below are the primary sources behind the claims on this site, with directions for finding the relevant material inside longer documents.

Community Character

The Ordinances

Ordinance 2026-144 - Zoning Text Amendment creating the "Drone Charging Location" land use https://www.nodronesinroanoke.com/s/Ordinance-No-2026-144-Zoning-Text-Amendment-Ord-96-117-Drone-Charging-Use-by-SUP.pdf

Ordinance 2026-145 - Specific Use Permit (SUP-2026-06) for the Zipline facility https://www.nodronesinroanoke.com/s/Ordinance-No-2026-145-SUP-Drone-Charging-Use-0486-acre-tract-1-1.pdf

Roanoke's Concept Plan vs. the FAA's Maximum

The Roanoke facility as proposed shows four dock towers, each holding 12 drones - 48 dock positions total. The FAA's December 2025 environmental review of Zipline's DFW program describes a maximum of 20 docks at a single site. In September, Zipline told Roanoke officials that newer FAA documentation permits larger configurations; however, that documentation had not yet been provided to the City. Roanoke Fire Chief Bryan Addington identified verification of FAA site-capacity authority as one of the principal remaining issues and recommended that Zipline provide the controlling FAA documentation for the final site capacity.

  • City of Roanoke, City Council Agenda Packet, August 25, 2026 - SUP-2026-06 staff report, page 93 of 109, states the facility is proposed with 4 dock towers, each supporting 12 drones, for a maximum total of 48 drones. https://roanoketx.portal.civicclerk.com/event/700/files/agenda/1808 This is the City's official packet for that meeting. Use the document's page navigation (or Ctrl+F / Cmd+F for "48 drones") to jump to page 93.

  • FAA, Final Environmental Assessment for Zipline International Inc., DFW Operations (signed Dec. 23, 2025) https://www.faa.gov/uas/advanced_operations/nepa_and_drones/20251223_Zipline_Final_DFW_EA_508_signed.pdf See Section 1.1 - states a maximum of 20 docks per site. It's a long document; use Ctrl+F / Cmd+F for "20 docks" to jump straight to it.

  • City of Roanoke, Chief Addington - Meeting Summary, September 8, 2026 Chief Addington identifies verification of FAA site-capacity authority as a principal remaining issue. He states that Zipline should provide the controlling FAA documentation for the final site capacity.

Scale of Operations the FAA Actually Reviewed

The same FAA document is the source for the flight-volume, hours, and service-radius figures used on our homepage.

  • FAA Final EA for Zipline DFW Operations (same document/link as above) Search the PDF for "400 delivery flights" (daily flight cap), "24 hours a day, seven days" (operating hours), "75 sites" (regional scope), and "10-mile radius" (service area) - each appears in Section 2.2, "Proposed Action."

These are FAA-reviewed maximums for the DFW program as a whole, not a claim about what Zipline intends to run in Roanoke specifically - which is exactly why we're asking Council to make sure enforceable local limits are written into the approval.

Roanoke's Own Hours: What Was Proposed vs. What Was Recommended

Zipline's original application for the Roanoke site requested 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with no restriction. That request only narrowed after residents and commissioners pushed back - and even then, only by a narrow margin.

  • City of Roanoke, City Council Agenda Packet, August 25, 2026 - SUP-2026-06 staff report, page 94 of 109, "Proposed Hours of Operation": states the SUP application requests the site operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. https://roanoketx.portal.civicclerk.com/event/700/files/agenda/1808 Search the PDF for "Proposed Hours of Operation" to jump to page 94.

  • Same packet, page 95 of 109, "Planning & Zoning Commission Action": on August 17, 2026, the Commission voted to recommend limiting hours to 6:00 AM-Midnight, with an exception for deliveries City Council deems critical (e.g., medications). The motion passed by a narrow 4-3 vote. https://roanoketx.portal.civicclerk.com/event/700/files/agenda/1808 Search the PDF for "Planning & Zoning Commission Action" to jump to page 95.

This is a recommendation, not a binding limit - it only takes effect if City Council writes it into the final approval. The narrow 4-3 vote shows this was contested even among the Commission, and residents should watch the Council vote closely to see whether this restriction survives, is loosened, or is dropped entirely.

FAA Authority vs. Local Land-Use Authority

The FAA controls airspace and flight safety; Roanoke controls zoning and land use. That split is why the City's approval terms matter.

Noise: What the FAA Says, and What Peer-Reviewed Research Shows

  • City of Roanoke, Zipline Supplementary Staff Report, September 8, 2026 Roanoke staff contacted municipalities where Zipline currently operates to identify operational and community impacts. Three responding communities - Ennis, Greenville, and Anna - reported generally favorable relations with Zipline. However, resident feedback included occasional noise complaints and concerns about drones flying at low altitudes. See the "Municipal Outreach" section summarizing feedback from other Zipline communities.

  • FAA, Package Delivery by Drone (Part 135) - "Environmental Responsibilities" https://www.faa.gov/uas/advanced_operations/package_delivery_drone Look for the "Environmental Responsibilities" section - the FAA notes that drone noise can affect residents even when it doesn't meet NEPA's technical threshold for a "significant impact."

  • Tan et al., "Virtual flight simulation of delivery drone noise in the urban residential community," Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, Vol. 118 (2023), Article 103686. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1361920923000834 Peer-reviewed study modeling how drone speed and payload affect noise levels at different points in a residential community.

  • Kyi & Feng, "Noise-aware urban drone delivery: Integrating demand modeling, routing optimization and spatial noise exposure assessment," Journal of Urban Mobility, Vol. 9 (2026), Article 100231. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667091726000488 Shows that routing choices determine which specific residents end up exposed to drone noise.

Property Values

  • Allroggen et al., "Planes Overhead: How Airplane Noise Impacts Home Values," NBER Working Paper No. 34431 (2025). https://www.nber.org/papers/w34431 See the Abstract for the headline finding: using 85,000+ housing transactions in Boston, Chicago, and Seattle, each additional decibel of annual aircraft noise exposure was associated with roughly a 0.6%-1.0% drop in home sale price.

  • National Bureau of Economic Research, "The Economic Costs of Noise Pollution from Aircraft and Traffic," NBER Digest, January 2026. https://www.nber.org/sites/default/files/2025-12/jan26.pdf See page 3, second paragraph, for the same 85,000-transaction finding in plain-language summary form.

No study specifically measures a property-value impact from Zipline or package-delivery drones - this research is about aircraft noise generally. We include it because peer-reviewed research (above) confirms delivery drones do introduce measurable noise into residential areas.

Wildlife and Waterfowl

  • FAA, Package Delivery by Drone (Part 135) - "Environmental Responsibilities" https://www.faa.gov/uas/advanced_operations/package_delivery_drone Wildlife is listed among the environmental resources the FAA evaluates for drone delivery operations.

  • McEvoy, Hall & McDonald, "Evaluation of unmanned aerial vehicle shape, flight path and camera type for waterfowl surveys: disturbance effects and species recognition," PeerJ (2016). https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4806640/ Peer-reviewed field study: higher-altitude flights caused little disturbance to waterfowl, while low-altitude and direct approaches caused documented reactions ranging from vigilance to birds leaving the water.

  • FAA, Final Environmental Assessment for Zipline International Inc., DFW Operations, 3.3, "Biological Resources (Including Fish, Wildlife, and Plants)" https://www.faa.gov/uas/advanced_operations/nepa_and_drones/20251223_Zipline_Final_DFW_EA_508_signed.pdf See PDF pages 29-33 - page 29 covers "Migratory Birds," noting the DFW area lies within the Central Migratory Flyway; pages 30-33 (subsection 3.3.3, "Environmental Consequences") cover the FAA's own analysis.

Fire and Battery Safety

Roanoke Fire Chief Bryan Addington met with Zipline representatives to review fire and life-safety issues associated with the proposed facility. Following that meeting, he identified several items requiring additional documentation, including battery thermal-runaway propagation, emergency procedures, and UAS deconfliction protocols.

  • City of Roanoke, Chief Addington - Meeting Summary, September 8, 2026 Chief Addington requested documentation demonstrating that a single-cell thermal-runaway event will not propagate through the aircraft battery system or to adjacent aircraft. He also requested emergency-response procedures and documentation addressing UAS deconfliction during emergency operations.

What Happens After a "No" Vote?

City Council Meeting & How to Participate

No Drones in Roanoke is a resident-led community advocacy effort and is not affiliated with the City of Roanoke, Walmart, or Zipline International.